


Don't you cry no more

by Laevateinn



Category: Black Panther (2018), Captain America (Movies), Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Canon-Typical Violence, Fix-It, Flashbacks, Fluff, Hurt!Steve, Multi, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Queen Shuri, Soul world, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, happy reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-07-02 18:35:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15802266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laevateinn/pseuds/Laevateinn
Summary: While one half of the Universe mourns its loved ones, the other is trapped in the Soul World. After the arrival of an unexpected ally, the heroes assemble again to set things back to the way they were.New friendships are formed, old ones are renewed, forgotten people reappear and some truths are revealed.Follows my series Infinity War Aftermath.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone !  
> Here's is the first chapter of my fix-it ! It kinds of follows my series called Infinity War Aftermath (here's the adress, but even if you didn't read it you'll understand this one : https://archiveofourown.org/series/1019574).  
> It will be composed of 13 chapters, four of them (including this one) are completely written and the others... Well I know the big picture but inspiration is tricky !  
> Also the title may not be the best fit for this fiction, but I couldn’t find one and I had this song stuck in my head, so.. Here we go !  
> Anyway, enjoy and don't hesitate to leave a comment !

Silence. This was the first thing that came to him. Complete silence. He couldn’t hear a single sound, not even his own breathing, not even the beating of his heart. He couldn’t feel anything either. No warmth, no coldness from cryo, no sensation in any of his limbs. It was as if.. he was just a spirit. If he chose to open his eyes -if he had eyes, and a body- would he see something ? He didn’t really want to find out. But he would, eventually, because he had to know where he was. Was he even still alive ? 

Sighing -or he would have, had he had a body (he still couldn’t feel anything, it was weird)-, he opened his eyes -or so he imagined- and saw only darkness.

Well. Great. He was conscious at least. He remembered his name, who he was, and most of his memories were there.

Slowly, the events that led to this odd situation started to come back. There had been thousands of aliens, a huge and messy battle, then a purple dickhead -Thanos, if he remembered correctly- came out of nowhere and… Shit. Steve. Bucky had disappeared -again- in front of him.  
His friend was going to be a wreck for some time. If he was still alive. Damn, he didn’t even know if himself was dead or not !

 

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't realised that his senses were slowly coming back to him. He still couldn't feel or hear anything, but he could tell he wasn't hot nor cold. And there wasn't only darkness anymore, his eyesight was slightly improving. Second by second, a light orange  tint  replaced the darkness. When his vision finally settled, he could faintly feel his body.  He was laying down, on some sort of sand.  He was aware of his  limbs , but couldn't move yet except for his eyes.  Lowering them a little, something caught his attention. His metal arm was slightly shining in the orange glow. If he was dead, shouldn't the appendix be gone ? Or did the souls sort of materialise with the appearance they had had before dying ?  
He let out a gruff. Too much questions  and not enough answers. Frustrating.

Without anything else to do at the moment, Bucky decided to check his body. He didn’t feel any broken bone, nor any major bruising. That, was weird. Before he died -or landed here, anyway-, he had been in the middle of a fight. He should be aching, at least a little. Maybe it would come with time, as his eyesight did. Or maybe he had been out long enough for his body to heal ?

 

Bucky tried to move, again, but it was in vain. He couldn’t even lift a finger. He was not in control of his own body. That, was enough to make his skin itch. Too close to what happened with Hydra. He couldn’t remember exactly how many times it had happened, but the only thought of having zero control over his body never failed to make him anxious. He welcomed the wave of darkness slowly engulfing him with gratitude.

 

The second time Bucky woke up, he could move.

He started to flex his fingers, one by one. He did the same with his toes, as much as he could with his combat boots. He tried to lift his hands, but they barely moved. He sighed and tried to shift his head. That worked. He tried again to move his hands, and this time they did.  
Damn. It was so simple yet so satisfying at the same time !

He kept on going until he could work each of his limbs. Then he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Why not trying to sit now ? He bent his legs, moved back his elbows to the point they were forming a 90-degree angle and pushed. Nothing. He did it again. Nothing.

Well, that didn’t work. He would have tried at least, he thought, before darkness engulfed him another time.

 

Third time is the charm, they say. Well, it was the case for him. The third time he woke up -because really, it did feel like sleeping, he even remembered dreams-, he was able to sit.

Only then, he took time to really assess his surroundings. He was sitting on sand, that much he knew already. He ran his fingers through grains. Thin, but not warm like you expect sand to be, tepid at most.  
Then he looked up. Still that orange glow. It would be very peaceful, he thought, if this situation wasn’t so fucked up. As far as he could see, there was nothing else than sand. An endless stretch of sand. Sand behind him, in front of him, on his left, on his… Wait. What was that ? There seemed to be a big mass of something far away on his right.

With difficulty, he managed to stand up. Then he almost fell face first. Luckily his reflexes were good and he only fell on his left knee. Seriously, this was starting to be annoying. He got up again and this time stayed on his feet. Good. He could try walking now.

He learned quite well from his mistakes, so this time he moved very slowly his feet, lifted it carefully and placed it on the ground centimetres away, without problem.

Quickly, he was able to walk normally. He headed to where the dark mass was, in hope to discover what it was.

 

The dark mass turned out to be something looking like a small mountain. He started to explore it, when he heard a small noise behind him.

 

“No way ! Are you fucking kidding me ?” Bucky stopped in his tracks. He knew that voice and that grumpy tone. “I’m dead and _you_ ’re the first person I see ?”

He felt the corners of his lips involuntarily lift a little and turned slowly. “Well. Hello to you too, Wilson.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone !  
> It is time to see what’s happening on Earth.  
> One thing : I know Clint’s family is probably dead, entirely. But since this story follows my series Infinity War Aftermath and that in it I had said they were fine (written quite shortly after I saw the movie, I think you can understand why I had done this), well… They’re all alive.
> 
> Anyways, thanks to everybody who left kudos and added this story to their bookmarks !

Time was tricky, Steve decided. The last few days had been a blur, yet they seemed to have passed awfully slow. The last hour -or so he thought-, had been a perfect illustration of it. Four days after the genocide, one after he collapsed due to exhaustion in the middle of the River’s tribe land, he had finally broken down in Shuri’s arms. The teenager -the Queen, he had to remind himself- had held him while he cried for what had felt like hours. But, judging by the sun it might only have been one. 

 

His chest felt somewhat less constricted after he finally let his sorrow express itself. But he still had trouble breathing, and his head felt like it was burrowed in cotton. That must be psychological, because thanks to the serum he was always in top form. He knew that, but he couldn’t stop the memory of his past health to come back. He felt like he still had asthma, and was about to have a fit. Except this time, Bucky wouldn’t be there to help him through it. This time nobody would help him breathe, nobody would held his back against a broad chest and murmur encouraging words, nobody would keep him warm and feeling safe for hours, because Bucky was _gone_.

 

Here was this vice again around his heart. He let out a shaky breath, only to feel his hand being squeezed. Shuri. He had succeeded in forgetting she was there, holding him. 

He wiped his eyes and raised his head. “I’m gonna… I’m gonna head down and see where are the others. You must have  a lot of  things to do.”

“Steve. I can take a little time for my friends.”, she said, before pausing to assess him. “Are you sure you will be okay on your own ?”

“Yes, it’s okay, I’m fine.”  That was a lie. She nodded, but he saw her frown slightly. 

 

That was a lie and she had had to know that. Natasha always said he was a bad liar. Oh damn. Nat. He knew that if she saw him in this state she would not go see Clint. He had to pull out a better mas k , he could not  keep her here. She wasn’t  okay , and she needed comfort too. Comfort that he could not give her, but Clint and his family could.

Right. He had to pull himself together before he saw her. He stood up, tightened Bucky’s scarf around his neck and hid it under his clothes. He couldn’t feel anything. His body was numb, his mind too.

Slowly, he turned to face Shuri and attempted to smile. Judging by the face she made, he hadn’t been successful. “Really, Shuri. I will be fine.” There,  slightly  less of a lie. “Go, I’m sure  you have a lot to do.” And more important things than babysit a supersoldier.

She seemed to hesitate a moment, but stood eventually. “You know I’m here for you if you need, Steven. Do not hesitate.”

 

Steve nodded.  He knew she would give him space if that was what he needed, or let him talk. But he couldn’t put his sorrow on her shoulder. It wasn’t fair, she had so much to worry about on her own. He wouldn’t be a burden.

He waited until she disappeared, Dora Milajes  i n tow, and headed for the gardens.

 

Steve was  sitting alone near the palace’s entrance,  elbows on his knees and eyes lost in the sunset when he heard Okoye  call him.  He tried to erase his tears tracks and rubbed his face.

 

“Yes, general ?”, he asked, turning slowly to face  the General and two other guards.

“I’m sorry, Captain Rogers, but we need your help.”

“What’s happening ?” Was there really a problem, or were they calling him only by pity ?

“Come with me.” Okoye said, while making a small gesture with her head in direction of the palace.

 

He stood up as quickly as he could and followed them. Okoye was leading their little group to Shuri’s lab, he noticed. What could require his help in her lab ? As soon as the four of them put a foot in, she turned and spoke.

 

“Ah, Steve, you’re here. Good.”

“What’s wrong ?”

“We’ve got incoming.” Immediately, his mind came into focus. It was something to do, probably danger. That, he knew how to handle.

“Unknown ?” It had to be, or else she wouldn’t have phrased it like that.

“Unknown signature, and at a speed too important to be a Stark gadget. Too small to be a vessel. According to those readings… This is a human.” He must have made a weird face, because she continued almost instantly. “I know it sounds crazy, but my scanners are never wrong. Whatever this is, it looks human, and that shouldn’t be possible. But we don’t have time to discuss it, it is coming to us.”

 

By the time they finished, the thing had landed where he had sat five minutes ago. Thermic readings showed a group of Dora Milaje circling it within second, so they didn’t lost time and went down to see what it was with their own eyes.

 

It was a woman. Tall, blond, determined look. She was wearing a sort of combat suit. Same blue as his suit, he noted, and with touches or red here and there. And there was some sort of golden star on her solar plexus. She didn’t seem threatening, but he didn’t lower his guard. She took a step towards them but stopped after all of the Doras lifted their spears towards her.

 

“I received Nick Fury’s message, but it’s too late apparently. What happened ?”, the woman asked, raising her hands in surrender.

“Wait a minute. Who are you, and where are you from ? Why did you came here ?”, Shuri asked.

“Last thing he did was read an alert about a thermic signature similar to some invasion years ago, ten times bigger, above this country. My name is Carol Danvers, and I come from far, far away.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't hesitate to leave your impression !


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone !  
> We go back with Bucky in the soul world in this one. There is a full flashback, it will be written in italics.

“ _No way ! Are you fucking kidding me ?” Bucky stopped in his tracks. He knew that voice and that grumpy tone. “I’m dead and you’re the first person I see ?”_

_ He felt the corners of his lips involuntarily lift a little and turned slowly. “Well. Hello to you too, Wilson.” _

 

 

Like a movie, a memory from the day Steve and his team arrived in Wakanda played before his eyes. Everybody had gone inside, expect for Wilson and him. They had had a little chat.

 

“ _I’m still pissed at you. You destroyed my wings. You took off the freaking wheel of the goddamn car I was driving in the middle of the highway. I know, you weren’t in your own mind. But still, that was_ your _body and later_ your _face I saw. I don’t hate you, but don’t expect me to be relaxed around you.”_

 

_ Bucky stayed silent, and Wilson carried on. “And you sure can’t expect me to trust you, even if Mr puppy eyes says you can be trusted.” _

“ _Are you done ?” Bucky drawled. “Yes.” Sam crossed his arms._

“ _I’m sorry for what I did back then, and all the trouble I caused. I wish I could right my wrongs, but I know I can’t. This, is the closer I can do.”, the brunet said, toying with his jacket._

“ _It’s ok, I got it. You were as much a victim as the people you’ve killed, I’ve long forgiven you. But that doesn’t mean I like you !”_

 

After that they had stopped talking, until maybe one hour later all hell broke loose.

 

“I gotta admit though, it’s better than being completely alone. I think.”, Wilson said.

Bucky snorted. “I should probably take that as a compliment, coming from you. You really didn’t see anyone else ?”

“Nope.”

“That’s weird.”

“Don’t tell me. I don’t even remember what happened.”

“Thanos. I think ? Apparently he finally got his jewelled gauntlet.”

“Ah yes. Erasing half the universe to make it a better place. Bla bla bla. I swear, those guys get crazier by the minute.”

He had nothing to answer to that, so he simply nodded.

 

They sat, and after a few minutes of silence, Bucky spoke. 

 

“I don’t think we’re dead, that this is the afterlife.”

“Why would you say that ?”, Sam asked, “We don’t have a clue what’s going on.”

“No. But we’re together.”

“And ?”

 

Bucky let out a frustrated sigh get out of him. Was really Wilson so thick ? It should be pretty obvious. “If it was really the afterlife, we wouldn’t be together, Wilson, that’s why.”

“And why ?” God, was he doing it on purpose ?! He had to be, the guy wasn’t that stupid.

“Because you are a good person who deserves to be happy in the afterlife. Not me. Not after all I’ve done.” He had killed so many people. Some deserved it, right, but so many didn’t.

“Ah, here we are.”, replied Wilson with a little smile. He had done it on purpose. Great. He was about to get another shrink session. “It’s not my place to say, you know, and you should know it by now. But you seem to not get it so I’m just gonna go and say it again.” He paused and looked at Bucky directly in the eyes. “You’re not responsible for what happened during those 70 years, Barnes. That was all the doing of HYDRA. The people you killed, were targets of HYDRA. Not yours. They tortured you, manipulated you to turn you into their puppet. None of it is your fault.” 

 

Yes he knew that, rationally. But a part of him couldn’t get rid of the guilt anyway. “But I could have tried harder to resist.” He should have tried harder, really.

“And they would have tortured you, erased your memory and you would have done whatever they wanted anyway. You know that.”

Bucky said nothing, it was true. They had done it several times, at the beginning.

“I saw the files, I know it happened. Eventually, you did what everybody would. You ceased to resist in order to survive. It’s not being weak or whatever, you’re far from it. It’s just called being human.”

 

Sensing he wasn’t going to respond, Falcon continued after a pause. “I’m sure you already know that. And I know for a fact that Steve already told you, multiple times.” Steve.

“Of course Steve told me. Maybe he would even have tried to help me even if I had been aware of my actions. He always had a big heart. Always was too good for his own health. A little too naive, despite everything, when we were young.” This brought a soft smile on Bucky’s lips. Their youth had been hard sometimes, they didn’t had a lot, but they were happy enough. “He always wanted to do the right thing. He fought bullies all the time. Well, he started fights and I ended them, most of the time. We became experts in the care of injuries, not huge ones, but still.” He laughed a little. “People in the army were always surprised at first whenever they saw us take care of wounds . We often helped Morita when one of the Howlies was hurt.”

“That bad, huh ?”

“Oh yes. But sometimes we fought because he refused to stay away from fights. Or because he didn’t wanted to be patched up. Said he was just fine or he could do it himself. Never really worked, and almost every time it ended with me taking care of his wounds.”

“He had turned you into a nurse.”, Sam said with a smile, surely imagining the scene.

“His ma’ was a nurse.” Sarah had been so kind, and so strong, raising a child almost on her own. “Before she died, she had taught us everything we had to know about injuries.”

 

He let the memories of his youth wash over him. Stevie, his mother Sarah and the way she almost treated Bucky as her second child. His little sister Rebecca, his parents. The rest of his family and his friends he never got to seen again.

 

“He never talks about her.”, Sam said quietly, interrupting his thoughts.

“She was his only family, besides us. Steve never got to know his father. Died in the war, one month after Stevie’s birth. His ma died when he was 18. She was so fierce. Raised a child on her own. Never gave up. She had two jobs sometimes, to get money to help Steve. He would stay with us when she was at work when we were too young to look after ourselves.”

“That must have been really hard. Especially back then, right ?”

Bucky nodded. If you added their Irish blood on top of it…

 

Suddenly, they heard a noise, which seemed to reverberate on the surface of the small mountain. Quickly, both men stood up, every sense in alert. They parted, each taking one side of the mass.

Bucky had only walked a dozen steps before he heard the noise again, closer this time.

 

“Sergeant Barnes.”, a man said behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any idea on the Identity of the man ?  
> See you soon !


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone !  
> We stay with the occupants of the Soul World for this chapter. I let you discover who found Bucky ! (If you haven't checked all the tags yet.)

“ _Sergeant Barnes.”, a man said behind him._

 

Bucky froze, his heart skipping a beat. He knew this voice. He heard it enough in his nightmares. Arrogant, a bit condescending. A pronounced German accent. He didn’t need to turn to know who it was, yet he couldn’t hold back a gasp when he finally did. Remembering and seeing were two different things. He had not forgotten the sight of this red face, the wrongness of it. If you could even call it a face, really it looked more like a skeleton.

 

Johann Schmidt, also know as the Red skull, head of HYDRA back in WWII. The mad man was wearing some sort of… cloak. Weird, even for him. How was he alive ? Well, not alive, but, here ? Had he turned to dust like Wilson and him ? But that would mean he had been alive before that… And Steve had said he died on the Valkyrie. This wasn’t logical. But where was logic at the moment anyway ? 

 

Momentarily lost in thoughts, Bucky didn’t see him come closer. He snapped back into reality when he heard Red Skull talk to him while staring at his left arm.

 

“I see Mister Zola finished his work.” Bucky remained silent. “But this is not what I imagined.”

 

Bucky saw more than felt his hands close into fists. From the corner of his eyes, he saw his right one slightly clench and unclench.

 

“The new fist of HYDRA.”, Schmidt continued.

 

Bucky’s mind transported him a lifetime ago, in a cold lab. He was surrounded by people in blue coats, strapped onto a cold bed, naked. _You are to be… the new fist of HYDRA._ Pain. So much pain. His left arm. What where they doing ? It hurt so _much._ He remembered falling ... falling from somewhere really high. Why wasn’t he dead ?

... _shape history ..._ Metal. Metal instead of flesh. What did they do ? Where was his arm ? Where was he ? Where was Steve ? They always were together on the field ! What happened ? W-

 

_Barnes !_ Wait, that was wrong. This voice had an American accent, but it wasn’t Steve’s, nor Dum Dum’s,  nor Morita’s .  _Dammit Barnes, where are you ?_ Frustration.  He had apparently been captured -again-, the voice shouldn’t be frustrated.

_Ah, here you are Robocop ! And… Who’s with you ?_

 

Bucky jerked into reality at this. He wasn’t in a lab. He wasn’t in 45. He was in 2018, trapped in a weird orange glowing place after they lost the battle against Thanos. And Johann Schmidt was smirking at him, as if he could read his mind and saw his flashback.

 

He shook his head and looked at the Falcon.

“This is Johann Schmidt. The Red Skull.”, the brunet said machinally.

 

Schmidt slowly turned to assess Wilson and turned back to him with one eyebrow raised.

 

“I see you have found a friend.”, he said calmly. He marked a pause and asked with a grin “But someone is missing… Where is your precious Captain ?”

 

Steve. Steve had been in Wakanda in the middle of the clearing. He had looked at him in horror while Bucky had been turning to dust. But he had been safe. Or they hadn’t seen him yet.

 

“Weren’t you supposed to be dead ? Like, disintegrated ?”, the ex pararescue asked incredulously.

“It turned out the Tesseract did not disintegrated me, as you say, but made me travel to a planet called Vormir. I have been the Keeper of the Soul stone since that day.”

“Keeper of the Soul stone.”

“Yes. How ironic, since we are currently trapped in its core.”

“Nah. Ironic because you should have had a soul to keep the _Soul_ stone, right ?”

 

 _That_ did not please the man, Bucky noted with a hint of amusement.  He saw Schmidt frown and take several menacing steps towards Wilson. He reacted quickly and placed himself in front of the Avenger. Wilson might be a good fighter, but the German was a super soldier. And they still didn't understand where they were and how this place worked.

 

"I see you're still acting as a human shield. What a waste. Your handlers have not been severe enough. They should have trained you better, this way you would still be loyal to HYDRA. A good little soldier, just like your Captain."

 

 _Good boy, asset. You’re a good boy who knows its master._ Was it Pierce ? Or someone before him ? He couldn’t tell, some of his memories were still blurry. But he could hear Schmidt talk in front of him.

 

“-always so arrogant. I told him there would be no flags in the future, but he didn’t believe me.”, Schmidt said with a shrug. It was weird to see him do something so normal, so... human.

 

“Ok shithead, I’ve heard enough !”, Sam exclaimed. This wasn’t going to end well. Indeed, just a moment after Bucky heard him shift and take a step towards the Red Skull.

Seriously. How did Steve pick all his friends ? Recklessness contest ?

 

Bucky extended his arm and told the other not to go, that Schmidt wasn’t worth it. But he shouldn’t have expected it to work, really. Of course Wilson wouldn’t listen. He just walked around him and tried to throw a punch at the German. Dammit. They were trapped God knows were and Wilson had just engaged a fight with a super soldier. This was going to be fun.

 

 

In the end, Bucky managed to knock Schmidt out and they left him there. If this was afterlife and not the soul stone, killing him would be useless and would just make him even more pissed.

 

This encounter made them realise this place might be dangerous. If the Red Skull was there, who else was ? They had to find other allies. For one, if they stuck together, they would be fine, and if they were indeed trapped in a stone, they should be able to find their way out.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody !  
> This chapter is almost twice as long as the others. Sorry for the irregularity of those, by the way, but the thing is that I consider 1 event = 1 chapter for this story. So, hence the variation in length of the chapters. (I make a point of not going under 1k words per chapters, though.) I tried to divide it in two to have all my chapter of approximately the same length, but I couldn’t find a way to cut it properly. So, anyway, let me know what you though of it ?  
> Thanks for those who left kudos, who bookmarked this story or simply read it. And thanks to SheenaWinter for your lovely comment. You made my day !

“Steve ?” The blond turned quickly to the sound of Bucky’s voice, but he was nowhere in view. He could only see a great desert in front of him, and a forest behind. Bucky’s voice had been coming from the desert.

 

“Cap ?” Sam ? Where was he ? He couldn’t see him either.

 

“Rogers ?” There, Nat. Her he could see. “Nat ? Where are the others ?”, he asked. “I heard Buck and Sam calling, but I can’t see them.”

Instead of answering him however, Natasha turned around and began walking away from him, in the forest. He tried to follow her, but it seemed like the forest was getting away itself too.

 

One by one, he heard the people who had vanished that day call him. But he couldn’t see any of them. “Stevie...” His mother ? What … Why was she there ?

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see if it was really his mother. It was. She looked pale and fragile, as she had some weeks before she died. He wanted to talk to her, but his voice was stuck in his throat. “This is all you fault, Steve. James, your team, all the others. As always.”

 

Steve froze. Why ... ?

“I’m dead, Stevie. I’ve been hurt because of you, again. Don’t ya think I deserved a little peace after everything they put me through ? And again, just because of you ? Huh ?” Bucky.

“Seriously, man. After all I’ve done for you. You just let me die, alone on top of that !” Sam.

“I thought you considered me as your little sister, Steve. That you would protect me. How great that worked !” Wanda.

“Indeed, Captain. You made her suffer. She had to kill me and watch as Thanos brought me back and killed me again.” Vision.

“You asked for me help, and your fight destroyed more than half my country. All for nothing.” T’Challa.

 

And they went on, and on, and on. As if they were running in circles like when kids play. But instead of joyous laughter, they were taunting him. _It’s all your fault, Steve. ,_ and then _You’re not_ _strong enough_ , _You’re pathetic._ … He fell on his knees and the voices stopped. The scenery had changed. It was cold, there was a rattling sound, and...

 _Steve !_ Bucky. He was in danger. The blond sprang to his feet, searching for his best friend’s location. He couldn’t see him inside of the train -that was the rattling sound-, so he approached the edge, dread filling his gut.

There he was, dandling of the train, above a snowy ravine -that was the cold. He was too far. Steve got to the edge of the gaping hole, but Bucky was still too far. He shifted his feet to only have one on the train, and he gripped the other part of the bar Buck was holding on. He tried to extend his arm, but he wasn’t getting any closer, it wasn’t working ! He couldn’t reach Bucky no matter how far he stretched ! He moved his foot again in the direction of his best friend but it still wasn’t close enough.

 

“Hold on, Buck !” Please, God help me.

“Steve !” The look of absolute terror in his blue eyes was like a punch in the guts. Dammit, he was Captain America. He couldn’t let alone die on his watch, especially not Bucky ! He couldn’t ! He was going to grab his hand.

He shifted again, and again… There he was ! Just a few more inches… A few more and he would be able to catch him ! It was okay, he was going to grab Buck and they would go back on the train, safe. He extended his arm one last time. Just, just there...

But he wasn’t fast enough, and the moment he felt the tip of his fingers touch Bucky’s, the rail his best friend was gripping detached itself.

 

 _BUCKY_ _! NO !_

 

His friend was falling too fast, he was spiralling, his body becoming smaller by seconds and… disappearing. His body was disappearing ! Bucky’s body was vanishing into thin air, like dust !

 _Bucky !_ , he heard himself shout above the wind, tears cascading on his face. _No, not him !_

 

 

 

Steve jolted awake, his heart pounding and his mouth opened in a silent scream. His left arm was extended too, trying to catch someone who wasn’t there. He hiccupped, feeling tears roll down his face. _Buck…_

 

He froze when he heard people talking. Right, where was he again ? Ah yes, a meeting room in the Wakandan royal palace, waiting with other people for the arrival of the rest of the Avengers and anyone who could be useful. Because the woman who arrived the previous day had said she might have a plan to fix this fucked up situation. She had talked about a realm, or something like that. As soon as she had explained the basics, Shuri had immediately sprung into action, dragging this Carol Danvers along with her. It had almost been the middle of the night by then. After that, he had contacted Tony, Rhodes, then Clint while Natasha unpacked her stuff and made arrangements for his family, and finally Lang, but nobody answered.  
Between that and going everywhere in the palace for different reasons, he had crashed onto his bed at almost two in the morning. And then, because of the excitation in the palace, the fact that he had overslept the day before, and his mind who wouldn’t quiet for three minutes straight, he hadn’t managed to fall asleep for several hours. Waking up at six in the morning to the sound of his alarm hadn’t be a pleasant experience. No wonder he fell asleep in the conference room.

 

Steve took a deep breath and whipped his face from the few remaining tears. He stood up from the armchair he was on in the corner, and turned to see who was currently in the room. That’s when he saw Tony watching him from the nearest seat. The man had arrived around eight, a few hours ago now, with Pepper -who refused to let him go anywhere alone, which was totally understandable. The genius had joined them in the meeting room while Pepper -who he still hadn’t seen- had disappeared to help contact the other heroes they knew of and Steve didn’t. She was here, now.

 

He slowly approached her, unsure of how to act. He liked her, she was strong, strict when she had to and yet very caring. She often reminded him of Peggy. But, he hadn’t seen her since the whole debacle of the Sokovia accords. Hell, even before that actually. He didn’t know how his presence would be welcomed. Bruce, whom she had been talking with, excused himself saying he was going to ask Tony some questions, and patted him on the shoulder when he passed.

 

“Steve. I’m glad to see you.”, she said, a sad and tired smile on her lips.

“Me too, Pepper.” he replied, a smile of his own trying to form. He was truly happy to see her.

“How are you holding up ?”

“Fine, I guess.”, he murmured. “Steve.” He didn’t answer, just averted her eyes. “I’m sorry for your team. I didn’t know them that much, but I know they were good people.” He nodded. Good people who had died because they -all the so-called heroes- hadn’t been strong enough.

“Did you talk to anyone ? Steve, is there someone with whom you can discuss about all this ?”

“Actually yes. And I did it yesterday.” It wasn’t completely true, he had talked about Bucky only with Shuri, but he supposed it was a good point.

His answer seemed to please Pepper, but not completely. Indeed, she was detailing him, probably taking in account his now dry tears tracks.

 

“There’s something else, isn’t it ?” she asked with a frown. “No.” “You sure ? I’m not blind, Steve. And… I talked to Natasha, about everything that happened here.”

“Then why do you ask ?”, he replied, quite angrily. Why was she prodding him if she knew already ? What part was she even referring to ? Half his team had died along with T’Challa, Vision… Buck, again. He wasn’t so sure he had stayed alive the whole time either. He remembered Thanos hitting him in the head and then sitting up when Thor arrived. And with what the giant had done with the time stone and what Nat told him…

 

Pepper didn’t mean bad, he realised. It wasn’t fair to treat her like that. She hadn’t answered either.

“Sorry, I… I shouldn’t have reacted like that.”

“Don’t worry about it”, she dismissed, “we’re all on edge. Come.” She made a small gesture with her hands, inviting him into a hug.

 

Steve didn’t hesitate and gently wrapped his arms around her smaller frame.

“I’m sorry about Barnes.” He went rigid against her in a fraction of second. He had never apologized to Pepper. Sure, it hadn’t affected her directly, but he had hurt Tony, and by consequence, Pepper too.

“Look, about what happened”, Steve started, but she didn’t let him finish. “You should have told Tony. But I get it, you didn’t because you had to protect him. I probably would have done the same.”

He didn’t have time to wonder what she meant by that, because Natasha entered the room, Clint on her heels. Pepper let him go after she squeezed his arm and gave him another sad smile.

 

“Hey, fossil.” Steve chuckled a little at that. Light teasing, that was familiar.

“Good morning Nat.”, he replied, giving her a quick hug.

He then said hello to Clint and Rhodey who just entered the room. They were still waiting for Thor to arrive with the warrior -whose name he had forgotten- he had talked to the other day, for Shuri and Danvers to come back… And they were trying to reach Wong, as well as Rocket and Nebula who were probably with the guy with the weird comb on his head.

 

People were bringing food and drinks into the room, as well as other chairs they all helped install. They would be there for a long time, it seemed. They also finally had a connection to Rocket and Nebula and the image was displayed on a wall, thanks to Nceba. She had been able to establish the communication quickly after Thor arrived. Wong materialised with a whoosh next to Tony who slightly jumped. By the look on his face, he had done it on purpose. The man had found someone to guard the sanctum in his absence, but couldn’t stay much.

 

Shuri and Danvers came back, and after quick presentations of everybody, they started to discuss.

After maybe a good hour of retelling of what happened, another of explanations about the stones for the ones who didn’t know a lot about it -or only about certain ones-, they made a quick break. It didn’t lasted long and after that, Shuri and Danvers explained what their initial theory was. After some input from Bruce, Tony and Wong, they had a beginning of a plan. They were going to try. They didn’t have much to loose at this point.

And Steve ? If this meant he could bring even a handful of people back, he would fight until his dying breath.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody  
> I know, no updates this wednesday. Sorry, I hadn't written chapters in stock anymore, and I didn't have the time to finish this one until thursday.  
> In this chapter, I'm trying a new point of view. Let me know if you find it accurate or not !

They had been walking for a long time. Sam could have sworn it had been hours, but he didn’t really know how this place worked. Where they really trapped into a friggin’ _rock_ ?

Well, with everything that happened those last years… And the fact that a guy who had supposedly disintegrated 70 years ago had just turned out to be alive – or not disintegrated anyway-, everything seemed possible.

The Red Skull. Steve had told him a little about him. Not much, but the essentials -he supposed it was still a sore subject for his friend. He knew the guy had worked for Hitler at the beginning, but had quickly taken his own path with HYDRA. He knew he had been the first person to get the serum -a bad version-, and that just like Steve, it had given him super-human strength and had amplified his main character traits. So he had always been a douche apparently. A crazy and dangerous one. 

He couldn’t shake the sight of the terror he had seen in Barnes’ eyes earlier. The guy had been frozen on spot when he had found them. He had looked terrified for a few seconds, before he had composed himself and answered him. 

It had been the first time he had really seen an emotion on the man’s face. Well, other than the times when he was talking to Steve anyway. Or about him, like earlier.

 

Those two, seriously. History books didn’t give justice to their relationship. Had they been a man and a woman, he was sure there would have been tons of movies about them. After all, they had been some about Captain America and Betty Carver, and the story hadn’t been good at all and nothing like reality. Instead of a strong, smart and independent Peggy Carter, they had transformed her into a mewling triage nurse who was only good at being captured by nazis and rescued by the Captain. Man, Steve had been pissed when he had discovered what they had done to his girl.

 

Sam’s eyes landed on the brunet’s tense shoulders. Best friends since childhood, the  voice of the exhibit said,  inseparable on both  school yard and battlefield.  That phrase  and twenty others  on a wall w ere the only things a friggin’ museum had to tell. Books  talked more about Barnes and the friendship between the two, but they never did it enough. He knew, he had read some when he was young. Now that he was friend with  Steve , he knew how wrong the books were on certain points. Their childhood, for once, Carter, who had been such a badass  but  whose impact on Steve always seemed to be only romantic, the fact that the Commandos were a family…  A family with different nationalities, races and religions, dammit, in the forties.

 

They also never mentioned the fact that Steve was _always_ starting fights back in the days, no matter how little chances he had. They never said he was stubborn as hell, but always listened when people were talking and took their opinion in account -well, most of the time.  
And -and that was something he found both equally puzzling and funny-, they always portrayed Steve like the perfect soldier. Listening to orders, and all that. Heh, surely they had to know he had tried to enlist _five_ times, hence lied repeatedly and should have been arrested for that ?  
Also there was no possible way they didn’t find out that Steve had defied a direct order and flown into enemy territory to go _rescue his best friend he didn’t even know was still alive or not_.  
Perfect soldier, his ass. The guy hadn’t hesitated to do it again, again for Barnes. 

 

That was some dedication. Sam had rarely seen it at that level.  
  
Barnes suddenly came to a halt and raised his left hand in front of Sam. “Someone’s here.” 

 

They had reached another sort of small mountain and had started to walk around it. The two men cautiously took a few steps, but they didn’t hear any other sound. Had Barnes imagined something ? He didn’t think so, but the guy had just seen one of his HYDRA related enemies apparently still alive not so long ago, he was bound to be a little jumpy. He just hoped the guy wouldn’t get a panic attack, because he wouldn’t be able to do much if it got out of hand. He already had had trouble with Steve the two times it happened, so Barnes...

 

Sam took another step, staying focused on his surroundings. Not that he could do much – he didn’t know if his wings could be useful or not, they should have tested that-, but it was always better to be prepared. Not seeing anything, he lifted his head -wouldn’t do anything bad. That’s when he saw it. A red and blue mass – someone - sitting almost on top of the rocks. His mind transported him two years ago, on an airport tarmac, and on several articles of the web. Was that the spider guy ?

 

The said guy turned in his direction, his mask off. Damn, that was really a kid. Sam waved slightly and saw the other’s face flash with recognition and start to stand.

 

“Barnes, up here.”, he said, while the kid slowly climbed off of his pile. 

 

A little jumpy, Barnes ? Nah, totally on edge. As soon as Sam spoke, he shifted, ready to fight, holding two knives. Long knives. Where had they been two seconds ago ? It was just like Natasha, really ! That was _scary_.

 

“Hey hey hey, relax ! Barnes, this is not a bad guy !” Well, logically he wasn’t. “Not HYDRA.”

 

That was apparently the wrong thing to say, because that only caused the guy to tense even more.

 

“Barnes, calm down. That’s just the kid who was swinging at the German airport.” And who had kicked both of their asses, too. “He’s on the good side.”

 

Slowly, he watched some of the tension in the brunet’s shoulders disappear, and the man lowering his arms. The kid took careful steps in Sam’s direction, keeping Barnes in his line of sight.

 

“It’s okay, kid. Do you remember us ?”

“Yeah. You, you’re an Avenger. Or were anyway. You’re Captain America’s friend, Falcon. But you vanished after the airport fight. And him,” he turned to Barnes who was still eyeing him with distrust but had put his knives away “he’s the Winter Soldier. But he’s not really cause he was being manipulated at the time. Right ?”

“Yeah, more or less.” Sam sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. “What’s your name anyway ?”

 

The teenager eyed him with an expression of shock, distrust and awe mixed all together and finally replied -or tried to. “I’m Peter man, sir. I mean. Spider Parker. Shit. Peter Parker.”

“Okay Peter.”, Sam answered with a little chuckle. “Mind telling us what happened ? I remember Banner saying you had left for the big donut in New York.” 

“Yes, and that thing transported us to a planet, and then those Guardians arrived, and we almost had taken the gauntlet. But it didn’t work, and Thanos stabbed Mr Stark and then the doctor gave the green rock.. And then Thanos just _swooshed_ and we were alone and then they started to disappear and then I … I … I disappeared too. In front of Mr Stark. Oh my god, Mr Stark !”

 

“Hola, hola, calm down. Take a deep breath okay ?” Sam approached slowly the teenager and put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re going to sit, and breathe deeply. Then when you’ll be a little more relaxed, you’re going to start at the beginning. Okay ?”  
The teenager let out a shaky breath. “Okay.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone !  
> I’m not dead ! I apologize for the huge delay between this chapter and the one I posted… more than a month ago, almost two now. I have moved in another country for my studies, so it has taken some time for me to adjust, and so I had less time to ink about this fic. And on top of that, I’ve got uni, and the inspiration for this chapter ad the next one… was not really there. But now those two are completely written, so you will have another chapter next week for sure !
> 
> To come back on the fiction, the last chapter had stopped with Buck and Sam finding Peter in the Soul World. And because I like Sam and I feel I don’t use him as often as other characters, this chapter too is from his point of vue. Do not hesitate to tell me what you thought about it !
> 
> Also, just a completely unrelated question : has anyone gone to see Bohemian Rhapsody ?

Turned out they almost had won not only once, but twice. They could have avoided this mess if the actions of everybody on Titan had gone according to plan. But of course, since when did any of the good guys’ plans worked anyway ? He really wanted to blame that Quill guy. Damn, he had put everybody in a real mess ! But if he was fair… anybody could have done the same. Hell, that was what happened with Stark and Steve not so long ago, and those were the first examples he could come up with. He didn’t blame Thor either. Sure, if the god had aimed for the head, they surely would have won. But come on, how was he supposed to know that Thanos could survive an axe in his chest ? That was insane !

 

Sam sighed, looking in front of him. What ifs could not do any good in their situation anyway. They were somewhat still alive -or kind of, he really didn’t know-, and they had yet to find the others. He turned his gaze over to Peter, who was still maintaining a little distance between himself and Barnes. Despite this fact, the kid seemed really intrigued by the older man. He kept looking at him with wide eyes, actually. Sam didn’t know if the brunet was letting him do it on purpose, or if he was too lost in his thoughts to be bothered by it. He was waiting to see for how long the kid would be able to stay silent before he started to ask questions.

The ex para-rescue redirected his attention to the orange area, scanning the horizon for any sign of life. They had resumed walking shortly after -at least he assumed- Peter had calmed down and there was still nobody else in view.

 

They had passed another hill, and what could be described as a small lake before they decided to stop for a while. Not that they needed to rest, but because they were bored. Were they really the only ones in this area ?

 

“How do we know we’re not walking in circle ?” asked Sam, running a hand on his face.

“We don’t”, deadpanned Barnes. Really helpful, thanks.

 

Sam sat down and placed his elbows on his knees, then his head on his hands. He heard the others sitting as well, and everything became silent.

 

“Hey loser !”, a feminine voice suddenly called. The three of them stood up in a second to discover a young woman, probably not even adult yet. She had a light brown skin and her hair seemed to be alive by itself.

“Michelle ?”, Peter asked. He seemed shocked to see her, but happy at the same time. He walked quickly and was in front of her in mere seconds.

“Yep Pete, that’s me.”, the teen answered with a smirk. She then proceeded to trap the kid in a tight hug. At first, he held his hands out and looked at the girl as if she had grown a second head, then reciprocated it.

“How…”, Peter started. “Am I here ? Well, apparently I’m dead. Or I vanished. You tell me, genius.” “Well I think the second option is the right answer, but we’re not really sure of what happened...”

“I see. You got yourself into something bigger than you, again. Nice upgrade for the suit, by the way !”

 

That last sentence seemed to have the effect of an electrochoc on the kid. Sam watched, highly amused, as he started to babble nonsense and his face turned a beautiful shade of red.

 

“Relax Pete, I’ve known for a while.” “Really ?” “Yeah. Seriously, I’m not stupid. I quickly figured it out with all the times you came to school bruised everywhere, the days after Spiderman would have had a bad night. And it’s not like Ned and you had been that discreet either.”

 

Sam was starting to like this kid too.

 

“So, are you gonna introduce me or do I have to do it myself ?”

“Oh yeah right ! This is”, Peter started. “Sam Wilson. And that guy over there is James Barnes.”, interrupted Sam. The kid was already awkward enough like that, and He would have probably ended repeating his performance  from earlier.

“Hi. I’m Michelle Jones, Peter’s classmate.”

“Did you see anybody on your way there Michelle ?”

 

“Yeah. Some people from high school, but I don’t like them. So I left and I walked ever since.”, she shrugged.

 

Sam had to give it to her, she wasn’t ordinary.

 

“Okay… We still haven’t seen anyone except for the four of us.” Well there had been the Red Skull , but he wasn't about to tell two teenagers that a nazi supersoldier was somewhere around. He turned to look at Bucky.  “Should we keep going ?”

 

The brunet nodded, and they started walking again. While the two teens talked – after all Michelle didn't know what happened- Sam thought about his earlier conversation with Barnes. Steve hadn't changed that much. He was still fighting bullies, everything bad he could find. He was still reckless, though it was better now with him and Nat. And Steve still acted like he had the weight of the whole world on his shoulders.

 

“You know”, Sam started, “I was thinkin about what you said earlier about Steve and your habits of stitching him up. It has changed a little now, but when I met him, he was so reckless. He never cared about getting injuries. Well, for himself anyway. He would worry if _we_ were even slightly grazed.”

 

Barnes sighed and shook his head. “Yeah, that sounds like Stevie. Always worrying about someone or something. Always getting himself into trouble. I swear, the only times well when he would draw.”

“Did he draw a lot ? “Yes, all the time ! Whether it was only doodles more research drawings… he always had a pen on him. Real talent if you ask me.”

 

After that, Barnes became silent again. It lasted for what Sam imagined could only be five or ten minutes of walk, before he suddenly turned, frowning.

 

“Wait. Why are you asking me that ? Isn’t he drawing anymore?”

“Well, not really.”, Sam answered, “I mean I've seen him draw a couple of times… and that's true he has talent ! But not that much.

 

Bucky nodded, seeming upset by the idea. This must have been a big part of Steve’s life then, if his friend reacted that way. He wondered when Steve had stopped -well, started to draw less anyway. Was it when he left for the war, when he woke up, or after that ? Curious, he asked Barnes -who seemed pretty happy to talk about Steve anyway.

 

“He didn’t stop during the war, that’s for sure. I remember him making portraits of the Howlies… And I remember one he had done just before … before he delivered us in Azzano.” Yeah, right. The suicide mission to save his best friend. “He had drawn a monkey dressed in Captain America’s suit…”

Wait, that seemed familiar. “On a unicycle ?”

“Yeah. How do you know that ? Did he told you about it ?”

“No, he did better. He showed me. It was in his office at the counpound.”

“Wow. It stayed for that long ?

“Yeah, crazy right ? He couldn’t believe it either. Actually, I think some of his works were secured after the war, for memory.”

 

Bucky nodded again, ending the conversation. But Peter had apparently heard a part of it -if not everything, who knew-, and had come close.

 

“Are you talking about the monkey drawing dressed as Captain America in Mr Rogers’ office ?”

 

Here were the questions, Sam thought, chuckling to himself.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya everybody !  
> Here is the promised chapter (one day late, I know sorry, but I had trouble with my internet connexion yesterday). I warn you though, I will probably not post anything next weekend, because I think I won't have time to conceal studies and writing. Sorry for that.  
> This one is still in the soul world, we will return on earth in the next one.  
> This chapter kind of echoes this work : https://archiveofourown.org/works/14770196 (companion series, taking place between the snap and this fix-it).  
> As always don't hesitate to leave a comment !
> 
> See you soon !

Bucky was starting to get annoyed. The kid -Peter, he reminded himself- was talking. Continuously. The only moments where he would stop were apparently the ones when he was searching for other things to talk about. Fortunately, he had stopped asking questions after getting a series of one-word answers from Bucky. But now he was telling stories. About _everything._ God. He didn’t know how long he would be able to support this. It was almost worse than HYDRA. Huh. No, what was he saying now. Of course not. He would take the kid over HYDRA’s tortures every day. But still, the kid was _too_ talkative.

The only good side of this situation was that Sam was able to discuss -or just stay actually, he hadn’t checked in a while-, with Wanda without being disrupted. The poor girl.

 

They had found her, wandering alone. She had been walking, but slowly, and without direction. Bucky felt sorry for her. She had suffered so much during her short life. Having to kill her lover, for nothing, had really been the final blow.

 

Fortunately for everybody, Sam and Wanda joined the trio soon after. Bucky was able to escape the conversation for a while, and focus on their situation. Not that there was a lot to focus on, but still. It calmed his nerves.

 

A maniac had decided he wanted ultimate power -another one- for himself, had acted upon it and succeeded in his attempt to retrieve his weapon. Weapon being a glove with rainbow rocks. Yeah, said like that it wasn’t really impressive. But still, those _stones_ had somewhat managed to open a portal between planets, move a freaking moon all around another planet, dematerialise him and make him go through the purple bastard, and… to come back in time. Yeah, they had been pretty screwed from the beginning. And that had been without counting the army of insects.

Now they were trapped in this orange-glowing world, only coming across people from time to time. He didn’t know how much time had passed since they had… died ? vanished ? Whatever. There, since they had disappeared from the surface of the Earth. Yeah, he didn’t know how much time had passed since then, but he was worried for the others…

 

They decided to make another pause when they spotted a sort of dune. Wanda and the two teenagers sat down while he and Sam remained stood up. They were quiet for now, but it wouldn’t last long, so he decided to appreciate the silence while it lasted. Maybe he would do some conversation afterwards if it was long enough.

 

Bucky was in the middle of a story about Steve during their childhood when Michelle interrupted him.

 

“Wow.”, the teen interrupted, “You have it bad.”

“I… What ?” What was she talking about ?

“I kinda think she’s right, Mr ..  Bucky.” Come again ? He raised an eyebrow at the two teens in front of him.

“You’re in love with your _Stevie_.” Er… And what was he supposed to say to that ? He quickly threw a glance at Sam, who was next to him. Smirking. Why was he … ?

“Can’t be mad at them.”, he shrugged, “can’t even really argue with them if I’m being honest.”

 

Well. This conversation had taken an unexpected turn, that was for sure.

But… If _Bucky_ was honest, he couldn’t say either that they were wrong. He loved Steve, and Steve loved him. Bucky had loved his family and friends, he loved Shuri, Buhle and Sipho. But he knew what they meant. Not the kind of love you had for a friend, or for your family -in general-, but the love your had for your other half, your lover. He had always loved Steve, yeah. He just wasn’t sure which way it was anymore.

 

He hadn’t loved Steve the first time he saw him. No, that had taken a little time. At the beginning, the little blond had just been a boy who was being bullied -because of his origins and the fact his mother was alone, and didn’t accept it. He had liked that immediately. But that had been it. Bucky had had to stop two attempts from the other boys before it went further. Before the others went down on Steve when Bucky was still in class and managed to hurt him quite badly. He had managed to rescue Steve before any of his bones broke – a small miracle in itself-, but the six year old hadn’t been in condition to get home on his own.

This is when he discovered Steve’s apartment wasn’t far from his own, quite the opposite actually. From then on, they had walked back home together every day. Sometimes they would talk, sometimes not. The two boys quickly became friends, and then best friends. And somewhere in between, Bucky started to fall in love. He didn’t know when exactly, but he supposed it had happened naturally.

But he went out with girls, because it was what was expected. And he liked it too. He loved going out with girls, and he loved girls in general. There had even been a girl he dated for some months before she had to leave Brooklyn. Anna. He could have pictured a life with her, had he had had to choose a woman to live with. She had been a little rebellious, and had been smart. He remembered she would always tell him that she couldn’t see herself only having a role of mother, that she wanted to do something else. Anything really, but something that mattered.

She still hadn’t known what when she left. He had never seen Anna again. His little angel, as he liked to call her. Even though she didn’t have anything of an angel in her behaviour. That was only because of the way her red hair would fall around her face. And because it annoyed her when he called her his angel.

 

He had felt protective toward her, had felt a real fondness… But still it had been nothing compared to what he felt for Steve. Steve, who was impossible, who always got into fights, was stubborn as hell. Steve, who couldn’t stand bullies, and injustice. Steve who had always had a heart too big for his own good, who would place other people’s interests before his owns.

 

Steve had always been a hero, way before Captain America. The serum had just given him a body more fitting for his soul.

 

So yeah, the kids were right. He _had it bad_. And they knew he had reached this conclusion, if their smirks were anything to come by. Even Wanda was smiling a little.

Sam smirked too, and clapped him on the shoulder. “When we come back, I think both of you should talk. You have a lot to tell each other.”

 

What should Bucky answer to that ? He had no clue, so he just nodded.

 

Suddenly they felt the ground shaking. How was that even possible ? For all they knew, this world was immaterial.

 

“What the Hell was that ?” Someone yelled, not too far from them.

They turned and were met by a group of five people. Though one of them didn’t seem to be a part of the group. He was standing a few feet away from the rest. And… well that was an original sight. The guy had a red cloak, and weird clothes. His face tingled a memory from Bucky, but he couldn’t replace it. Maybe this guy had been in the papers ? His face was the one of someone ready to fight, same for the others’, so he drew his knifes again. Talking about weird looks… One of the other guys looked totally human, but the last…  

 

“I know them ! Those are the guardians of something I told you about. And Dr Strange.”, the kid paused. Okay, maybe he could have warned them about their appearance at the same time ?

“I’m not sure about the tree though…” Wait, a tree now ?

 

Bucky shifted slightly and, sure, here was a tree. A fucking moving tree. What the hell. Oh, yeah. _That_ tree.

 

“Groot, right ?”, he asked.

“I am Groot.”, replied the tree, in what seemed to be a happy tone.

 

Damn, What was his life nowadays ?


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New year everyone !
> 
> Sorry for the long delay, I have been a bit carried away by other things ...  
> I promise I will finish this story !  
> Don't hesitate to let me know what you think of it ;)

6 am: waking up. Breathing exercises until 6:15 in his office. 6:20 to 6:50, breakfast in the common kitchen. Checking the news until 7:15. Workout from 7:30 to 8:30. Preparing breakfast for the others, then checking his mails. 9 ‘til 10 : jogging. Then quick shower and more breathing exercises. Meeting with the team at 10:30 to discuss the plan. Around 12, cooking with whomever available then eating, up until 1:30pm.

Sparring with Natasha from 2 until 4. Then two more hours with the Asgardians. Cooking at 6:30. Dinner/meeting from 7 to 8:30. Checking the news and mail until 9. Sleep at 10.

Repeat.

 

This had been his life in the past few weeks. Every day the same routine, with only sometimes a change in his sparring partners. But that was it. Nothing too unpredictable, almost always something to do. Less time for his thoughts to drift. He didn’t have time to dwell on his personal issues, they had work to do.

 

 

A little  more than a month had passed since the genocide and thanks to Carol, they had a plan. It wasn’t perfect, the probability to fail was still high, but hey, they didn’t have much to loose anyway.

 

First of all, they would retrieve the stones. Indeed, after some coordinated research and the help of their contacts all over the galaxy, they had found out that the mad titan had hidden four of them, including -and oh, were they grateful about that-, the space one.

 

They had to be careful and start retrieving the stones at the same time. If not, there was a high probability Thanos would intercept them again and then the plan would fail. That’s why they also had mounted fake expeditions : multiply the possibilities in order to confuse the enemy, hence less chances he might find the good team to attack. Sure, it would only work if he was keeping an eye on them and not too closely on the stones. Then, it would become way more complicated. But they had to try anyway, and in the worst case, it would still be annoying for him. Plus they had backup if they needed.

 

They had localised three of them only for now : the space, mind and the time ones -having a wizard who was able to easily trace the last was handy. They were sure another stone at least was hidden, so they had to find it before they started anything.

 

Then with the help of Wong (who would be needed later too), they would hid the stones in others places, to ensure Thanos could not find them.

 

Of course, they would after that have to fight Thanos, again.

Then finally, they would try to reverse the snap, as it had been dubbed. Carol would be the one to wield the gauntlet -well another one, seeing as the one the titan used had been destroyed. That would be a double challenge : first actually bringing back people, then second getting them to reappear somewhere relatively safe. Because for people who were inside apartments, houses, or in parcs and other similar locations, that would be safe enough. But for all the people who disappeared while driving, or even flying… Well that was another story -especially if you were keeping in mind that some people might have been traveling through _space_.

 

So here they were, a month and some days after the genocide. Half the universe erased from existence - and what a mess it would be if, no when, they bring everybody back, they would have to inform the populations-, Thanos hidden on Titan, three stones localised, one still in the wind, two probably still with the titan, and them.

An actual army of broken people. There was Carol Danvers, what was left of the Avengers and the Guardians, some of the Defenders too, plus a handful of Asgardians -given Thor would be fighting with them, they had to take precautions in case anything happened- and Wakandans. That was just for the active fight. Thanks to Valkyrie and the Guardians’ reputation, they had back up in the form of an actual army -the Nova Corps was it ?- and  some very pissed scavengers who were all around the galaxy. If they needed extra  help, some of Danvers’ friends could be of assistance as well.

 

It was going to work. It had to.

 

In the end it took them another week or so to localise the last stone. It turned out to be the reality one. They had been lucky for that one : the two scientist friends of Thor already had some data concerning it. They had been really helpful in finding all the others too : along with Shuri -when she could-, Bruce and Tony, they had made a great team.

 

They also had needed to prepare ships that could go into space, and that took much longer.

Two months and a half after the genocide, it was time to start actively looking for to stones. Some teams had already advanced - the ones going to the farthest locations- but the others were still on Earth, preparing to leave.

 

Steve was on a team with Natasha, and two wakandan warriors. They would go retrieve the space stone -of course it was this one, he really hated that fucking rock-, the closest to Titan.

 

Tension filled up the room as they all prepared to depart. Almost everybody saying their goodbyes without it being official -they knew there were high probabilities they would never come back- before they left Earth.

Steve saluted Tony and Bruce, who then went on their way to Pepper -she would stay here to coordinate the attacks with Wong, but was ready to jump into action as well if anything needed.

The last person he had to see was Thor. That was when Steve saw Thor so focused and trying to lighten the atmosphere that he felt guilty about dwelling on his losses. His friend had lost his entire family, almost all his friends, his people and his home, and yet here he was.

The blond clasped his shoulder then dragged him into a crushing hug before squeezing his shoulder and moving on to Natasha. He whished them luck then left with Rhodey.

 

Steve turned to Natasha.

 

“Should we go now ?”

“Yes.”, she nodded, “Let’s find Akhona and Geobani .”

 

Five minutes later, they were on board. They took the pilot and copilot seats -the Wakandan would take the second part- and started to prepare everything.

 

“Steve”, she said. He hummed for only answer. “We’re gonna get them back. It will be okay.”

Steve threw a side glance at his friend. He wanted so badly to believe her, but victory was still a strange prospect to him at this point. But maybe she also needed some sort of reassurance, so he nodded.

 

That was it. They were going to space : Avengers 2.0.

 

“Pepper Potts to all units. This might be a long battle ahead. Only time will tell us. But if you feel yourself getting weary, remember we’re going this for the peace that it will bring when we are done. Clearance for departure in 4, 3,2,1...You’re good to go. Good luck.”

“Here we go”, Steve said, before they started the engines. 

 

 

They’re saved, he would think, two days later. They’re saved, it’s gonna be okay, he would think, before collapsing onto the floor because of his injuries.  



	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody !
> 
> I'm sorry for my erratic publishing rythm but, heh, my brain wouldn't write. Thanks to those who still stick with me nevertheless !  
> In this chapter we go back in the soul world for the last time !

After they found the kids, the sorcerer and the Guardians -apparently that’s what they were called, not really living up to their name if anybody asked him-, they had started finding a lot more people. At some point they stumbled upon T’Challa -Bucky had been happy to see him but sad at the same time, because that meant that he had died -or disappeared- too. The King had been with Ayo and a handful of Wakadans. Sam offered him to stay with their group, but T’Challa declined, wanting to find as many Wakandans as he could.

 

The girl from the new group kept looking at each of them curiously, as if she was trying to figure out their thoughts. She was weird. In every way. She had _antennas_ , for God’s sake. The way she was talking was off putting. And on top of that, she and Drax -was it his name ?- were taking everything literally. It was equally amusing and annoying.

 

She started talking with Wanda after a while. The kid seemed genuinely intrigued by the girl, so Bucky figured it was a good thing. At some point, the witch started demonstrating things with her hands, which captivated almost everybody. Except for the guy called Dr Strange, but then he looked pretty bored all the time anyway.

 

After that they walked for some time in silence. Did they actually even have a goal ? Or where they just walking to avoid thinking too much ? Then the sorcerer explained the stones to the group, and gave them more information along with his theory about what was happening to them. Half the universe had been erased and got stuck in this world.

 

Time passed, how much, Bucky had no clue, it could have been minutes or days at this point, they had absolutely no way to know.

Strange finally addressed the shaking problem. According to him, it might have been the stones being used or moved. After that, conversations resumed between all the members of the group. Bucky was walking at the front, ready to intervene at any sign of danger. Sam came to chat a bit, then went back to talk with Wanda. The two teenagers returned and asked him some more questions. Bucky had been starting to wonder if they would ever stop when the girl -Michelle ?- had dragged her friend, saying that Bucky was about to rip the kid’s tongue because he was talking too much. The supersoldier would never do such a thing, be he had to admit than the kid’s face had been pretty comical.

After a while, the human from the Guardians’ group came next to him. They walked in silence for some time, then the guy asked him if he was _really The_ Bucky Barnes. And well. Yes ? He didn’t know of any other Bucky Barnes remotely known other than himself. Following this confirmation, came all the questions the man had about WW2, the Howling commandos and Steve. Great. Again.

 

Bucky was saved when from this endless interrogation when he saw movement from the corner of his eye. He drew his knives out quickly, startling the man next to him.

 

“What the hell man ? Where do those knives come from ? No wait actually I don’t want to know.”

“I saw movement.” Bucky answered with a frown. “Sam. Two hours.”

“I get it too. I think… two people.”

“There are indeed two beings coming towards us.” Said Mantis. “They seem almost relieved ?” Why the hell would she say that ? They couldn’t see them properly yet.

 

The whole group stopped, on their guards. “Is that …” Sam started “a black coat ? A long one ?”

“It seems so.” “Is that Fury ?” “I think so. But I don’t know who’s with him.”

“Probably Maria Hill.”

 

As it became clear that the two strangers were indeed Fury and Hill, Sam relaxed, as well as Wanda did. The others seemed to pick up from them too, except for himself. Damn. Last time he’d seen Fury was when he had tried to kill him. The guy was likely not going to be friendly towards him.

 

Apparently, he wasn’t hostile either because the first thing if said after introducing the both of them was “Relax Barnes, we’re not gonna jump on you. You weren’t responsible, no resentment from this side.”

 

Bucky slowly put his knives behind his back, not completely trusting this fact.

 

“You lot are the first we’ve encountered so far. Can anybody tell us what the fuck is going on here ?”

 

Strange started explaining again, getting interrupted several times by either Hill or Fury for more details. From a common agreement, the group decided to organise a bit more.

Part of them would stick around a place with rocks they had found earlier, and the rest would divide in small groups to find other people.

 

At first they would return from each expedition with one or two people, then as time passed, the ‘explorers’ started to come back with small groups. There were currently around 300 people in the area, divided in sort of neighbourhoods, thanks to Maria Hill.

 

Then it had been Bucky’s turn to go, with Mantis. That was a good thing, because he was having a bad day. Well, day. More like a bad moment ? Some faces he had seen when the last groups had come back had made him dive back into memories of Hydra. He had tried thinking about happy things : life in Wakanda, habitants of his village, his goats… Steve. But that hadn’t worked. Actually it might even have been worse, because he had started worrying about what was happening on Earth, and to Steve.

 

So yeah, an expedition to find other victims had been a good prospect. He would have something else to focus on, rather than his worry for Steve and memories of HYDRA’s tortures. But of course, it couldn’t go swiftly. Mantis had been distracted by something and almost fell face first. Bucky had caught her and… that’s when she had started screaming bloody murder.

 

Everybody had shut up then. Bucky himself got frozen to the spot. What was it now ? He hadn’t done anything yet she was looking at him with distress, her chest falling up and down quickly.

 

“What have you done ?” screamed Drax, who had been close to them, talking with Quill.

“Nothing. I don’t know why she started screaming !”

“Why are you lying ?” The guy was now almost in front of Bucky while Quill and Wanda were approaching the girl. Bucky took a step back, preferring to avoid a fight if it was possible.

“I’m not lying. I caught her because she was about to fall and she started to scream.”

“Drax, man, relax. It was not his fault.” Said Quill. Ha, thanks. “It was an accident.”

 

That seemed to calm the giant, who promptly left him to see how was Mantis. Could somebody tell him what was going on ? His confusion seemed to be evident, because Wanda looked at him in the eye and told him quietly “She’s an empath.” An empath ? Oh. Snap. He sighed, passing his hand through his hair. He didn’t know what she had felt, or seen or whatever, but knowing where his thoughts had been recently…

“Sorry, kid.” was all he could say.

 

Sam looked at him discretely, silently asking why he said that. "Hydra" was all he answered, without a sound either. Sam nodded.

Later, Michelle -who had volunteered to come with him because apparently her boyfriend, or friend he didn’t know, was talking too much- and him were coming back to their makeshift camp. With T’Challa, Ayo and all the Wakandans they had been able to find.

The ground shook four times before Strange told them that indeed, someone was using the stones on the other side.

 

“See you on the other side, Robocop.” Whispered Sam, a hand on his shoulder before everything started glowing.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next update will be in either one or two weeks. Chapter 11 is already finished (and just awaits a proof reading) and chapter 12 is almost complete.  
> After that, there will be only one chapter more to conclude this fiction (if everything goes according to plan). It WILL be published before Endgame (which is going to ruin me emotionally, I'm pretty sure)
> 
> See you !


	11. Chapter 11

The plan had gone sideways, of course -but only partially. Thanos had reacted only after two of the stones were safe, so it was already a small victory. They had had time to retrieve the space and the time ones. The reality stone had been secured just before the arrival of Thanos on the planet, that had been a close call. But as for the last, the mind one…

It was a good day after the launch of their attack, the Titan had long understood their plan, so he had been hell bent on stopping them. And had showed up with some of his insects, and the power stone.

Luckily, Rocket and Nebula had been on the mission to retrieve the mind stone, so they managed to hold him for some time with their team. The other teams had slowly began regrouping anyway, so they didn’t have to stay on their own for more than half an hour. Steve and Nat and their team were the first to arrive,  then Bruce, Tony and Brunnhilde followed suit and finally Thor, Clint and Rhodey, and their respective teams.

 

Some scavengers and other people from Terra -it was still strange to think like that- had come to their help, while Thor, Bruce and Natasha re-joined Danvers in their search for the soul stone. They probably would have benefited from the extra help, but they couldn’t let escape this opportunity -and that was without saying that if Thanos went to retreat, he would take the stones with him and they would probably be lost forever.

 

So they had been fighting, and fighting, since that moment. For what had felt like days but might actually only had been half one.

The people without special abilities had been the firsts to either die or be evacuated. Something like ten -or thirty- minutes ago, Rhodey’s suit had been damaged while he was fighting next to Steve. The armored man had been sent flying and Thanos had been about to hit him again, but Steve had jumped in front of his friend. Unfortunately, he hadn’t had the time to prepare himself for the blow, so he went flying a rather sharp rock in the process. He probably gained some cracked ribs in the process, but it had been worth it. Clint and Tony had came shooting on Thanos at that moment and Brunnhilde and Nebula had proceeded to place Rhodey in relative safety.

 

Back-up in the form of Nova corps was finally arriving. According to the plan they had designed, the group was going to be divided. It would be harder to fight, but it was to ensure the mind stone would not fall in the hands of Thanos again. Clint had been injured just before Rhodey, so he had moved onto helping how he could on the ship. Tony and Rocket would be going with Akhona and Kraglin -whose arrow had proved really useful-, so that left only Brunnhilde, Nebula and himself, along with their back up, to distract the mad titan.

 

They fought for a good half hour without major change. There were still a lot of insects to fight, not only that purple asshole. Distantly, Steve registered people being injured, or killed. Others were being transported to ships to go back to Terra or some other base, but he could only focus on Thanos. After all, they were only three to fight him.

Suddenly, Steve was face to face with Thanos’ fist. Just like in Wakanda. But this time, rather than only knocking him aside, the giant caught Steve’s right arm. The grip in itself was slightly painful, but he didn’t stop here. He _twisted_ until everyone heard a snap. A shot of pain coursed through Steve’s body. He probably had a broken bone, but he would still fight. But apparently Thanos anticipated it, because within seconds, he kicked the blond’s kneecap, causing him to fall on his knees. Then he threw Steve aside with a powerful punch that knocked the air out of him.

 

Steve was hurting everywhere, but it felt like a small victory, because while Thanos had been occupied with him, he hadn’t seen Nebula approach. She managed to injure him a first time, then helped by the Valkyrie, did quite serious damage.

In the meantime, a Nova Corp officer had helped him get up. He learned that the team that went to secure the mind stone was almost back -hardly a handful of minutes left now. Also the one that had gone for the soul stone had just found it.

 

They were about to win, they just needed to hold a bit longer. So Steve did what he knew best, he went back to fighting -shutting down the protests of the officer. Slowly, but surely.

They just needed to distract him a bit more. With that in mind, Steve launched himself again at the weakened titan. But weakened didn’t mean powerless, far from it. Apparently, the monster had had enough of this puny human, because he hit him in the abdomen with something sharp. A dagger or a sword maybe, but Steve hadn’t had the time to see what it was nor where it came from. And frankly he didn’t care. Whatever it was, that hurt like hell. The blood had started oozing almost instantly. He was only able to duck a fatal blow thanks to the arrival of Tony, distracting the titan by shouting Steve’s name in anguish.

The blond then fell to the side at the same time Kraglin’s arrow pinned one of Thanos’ feet on the ground. Steve heard somebody saying that the others were almost there, finally.

After that everything went by in a flash, Steve barely conscious of what was happening, but forcing himself to watch. Thanos was brought to his knees and just at that point, Thor and the others arrived. The god’s axe went directly into the titan’s neck this time.  That was it. They did it.

 

Steve let his head rest on the ground. It was okay, they didn’t need him anymore. He barely registered coughing, just the taste. It was kind of… metallic ? Ah, blood, probably. He somewhat heard someone calling him and asking about his injuries, but he was too tired to answer. He directed the little attention he had left towards Danvers, who he had seen pass next to him in a hurry.

His head felt like it was surrounded by cotton, his ears were ringing and he noticed he had stared trembling. Somebody shouted something about bandages and suddenly his chest was cold. They must have opened his suit. Finally he saw Wong’s portals and Danvers taking the stones. Then somebody with a soothing voice cradled his head and told him that she had started to reverse the process…

 

They are saved. It’s gonna be okay, Steve thought. Then exhausted by the fight, and finally able to release the pressure, he collapsed while they lifted him to bring him to the ship back to Earth.

 

-

 

Slowly, Steve woke up. Only to find himself stripped from the upper half of his uniform. He spent some seconds assessing his surroundings : metallic ceiling, cargo-like structure, relatively quiet- not too hot or too cold. He went to sit, but a hand on his shoulder prevented him.

 

“Lay back Steve, you have to rest.”

 

Natasha ! He was so relieved she was okay.

 

“Nat”, he croaked. He wanted to ask her if she was okay, how were the others. But he was too tired.

“I’m okay Steve. Our friends too. We all have our bruises, but nothing major. Except Clint, you should expect him to swing by soon, complaining about his broken arm.” He chuckled at that. “Seriously, though. I think you really are the most injured of all of us.”

“I’m… still alive.”

“That’s true. You have a handful of broken ribs, a gash as long as my hand, lost a lot of blood, your left feet and probably your forearm broken, and your right shoulder was dislocated.” She said, frowning. “You were lucky. We couldn’t get you quickly enough on the ship, especially when you were loosing so much blood. If Thor hadn’t remembered you were wearing a scarf underneath, thing would have gotten more complicated.”

 

A scarf. That was true, he had been wearing Bucky’s scarf. Wait.

 

“Nat. The … did they “

“They are bringing people back right now. They brought back people whom planets had been alerted by the Nova corps first, but it’s pretty tiring. Carol is amazing, but she has to take breaks. I think they said the Kree planets were the next on the list. Then it should be our solar system. Now try to rest, we still have some hours before we are back to Earth.”

 

-

 

The next time he woke up, someone had put him an oversized t-shirt and it was Rhodey who was smiling at him. He informed the blond of the current situation : six hours had passed since they left, everything was going relatively fine where people were being brought back and apparently a certain Queen was pissed at him for being so reckless. They talked a bit after, it was a nice companionship. Not as quite as Sam’s, but still. He had missed Rhodey those last years.

 

-

_Landing in approximately fifteen minutes. Please put an end to any no necessary activity and locate the nearest zone to seat._

 

That was it. They were finally back to Earth after almost ten hours of travel.

His feet was in an sort of plaster slowly repairing itself, as was his forearm -maintained by a sling -, his gash had been closed, he had a sort of corset around his ribs, and apparently sported an nice assortment of colourful bruises.

 

“Haha ! Sleeping beauty is awake at least ?” … Clint.

“Yes. And trapped in a stupid bed. I told them I was fine, but they wouldn’t let me get up again.” Steve mumbled.

“Wow. Easy tiger. You got your ass kicked and handed on a silver plate by that maniac. Don’t rush.” The archer said before taking a seat next to him.

“But I’m _fine_.” Clint raised an eyebrow. “Okay. Not _that_ fine, but I don’t need to be in this bed ! I could walk earlier ! And that sling is _itching_. I don’t need it, I can hold my arm on my own, come on. And that thing around my ribcage is not comfortable either, I don’t like it.”

His friend chuckled -he had let him rant without saying a word. “Steve… Did they give you something ?”

“I … think so. I think I heard them talking about a painkiller for enhance people.”

“Hunhun. That would explain your pouting then.” Steve huffed “That doesn’t make my sayings wrong.”

Clint snorted and mumbled something about a 5 year old then leant back in his seat.

 

They didn’t really talk after that, each of them lost in their thoughts. A nurse came to check on Steve and secure his bed for the landing. The blond tried to negotiate to get out of it, but to no avail. It made Clint laugh again, though.

 

 

_Landing in five minutes. Please direct yourself to the nearest seat and fasten your seatbelt._

Steve started drumming his fingers on the sheet, nervous with anticipation. Almost there.

 

Much to his disappointment, he had to wait longer. Because of his _injuries_. He had thought that he would be able to get out of this ship just after its landing, but because he had been injured he had to stay put. Technically he should have gone to a hospital, but because he was Steve _stubborn_ Rogers, he managed to get released. It only took a quarter of an hour. As soon as the doctor left the room, he detached the sling and all but ran from the room.

 

When he stepped outside of the ship, almost nobody was there. Everyone was either already gone or on their way to the point of reappearance. Slowly he started to walk into that direction too.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody !  
> One more chapter to go, and this fiction will be finished.   
> Thanks to all of you for keeping up with this work ! It means a lot. (I actually screamed when I discovered where we could see the number of subscribers, and the number displayed.)  
> Just so you know, the next chapter probably won't be published next week-end. Indeed I know what will be in it, but haven't started writing it yet and I have quite a lot of work for uni.   
> Last thing : I know Steve is OOC in this one but… i didn't know how to write him differently here.  
> Anyway !  
> I'll let you read now.  
> See you next time !

Quickly, shouts could be heard. People were calling for their loved ones, reuniting with friends, families, lovers. Some were crying, some hugging the other so tight Steve doubted they could breathe, some were kissing. In contrast with those last months, happiness was radiating everywhere. Sure, a lot of people were confused -after all they in Wakanda and a lot of them didn’t even know where it was-, and those were directed to tents and support to start arranging their return home.

Some people recognised him and waved at him, but he barely registered. How was he going to find anybody in this mess ?

The universe seemed to hear his question though, because mere seconds later he saw a huge gathering of Wakandan soldiers cheering. It was T’Challa.

 

Steve managed to make his way through the mass -clasping some shoulders as he passed- and finally arrived face to face with the king. “Ah, Steve !” the man said, elation in his voice. “T’Challa ! Welcome home. I’m so happy to see you.”, Steve replied, clasping his forearm with the king’s. But his friend was having none of it and drew him into a quick but sincere hug.

“You can be really proud of your sister. She has been fantastic.” “It sounds like her.”

 

Steve didn’t stay long : he had other people to find, and they would have time after. Thanks to Okoye, he found Wanda and Natasha quite quickly. They were sitting on a tree trunk, the young woman tucked under Tasha’s arm. As soon as she saw Steve though, she jumped on her feet and hugged him. His little sister was back, the blond thought, while kissing the top of her head. Natasha looked at his different injuries and frowned but he shrugged one shoulder. This time, Steve lingered a bit more, until Sam appeared in sight and Wanda shoved him into his direction.

Sam gave him a huge grin and told him that he “looked like shit” before hugging him tightly. A tad too much actually, because it hurt his rib a bit. But he found that he couldn’t care less. Because that meant that Sam was back. He hadn’t fully realised how much he needed this guy in is life than in those last months.

 

Finally, they let go of each other – Natasha and Wanda were waiting to greet Sam too- but Sam grabbed his arm.

 

“I haven’t seen Bucky yet, but somebody told me he was around. You should find him easily.” “Ok thanks.” “Oh and Steve. Sort out things with your boy before you come back would you ?”

 

Steve opened his mouth, confused. But he didn’t get the chance to say anything as two mass of hair shoved him from the spot. He chuckled and took the direction Sam had indicated.

 

 

While he walked, he spotted several Wakandan warriors he had briefly met, even one or two ex Shield agents. But five minutes later, there was still one person he hadn’t found.

Bucky. He couldn’t find Bucky. Why ? Had he not reappeared like the others ? Maybe the stones were not giving everybody back ? Maybe it had estimated Steve had gotten enough people back? That he didn’t deserve to get Bucky back ? Because he had wasted his occasions ? But Steve wasn’t the only one caring about Bucky, all the children in the village loved him too. That wouldn’t be fair to them either.

God, he didn’t know what he would do this time if Buck didn’t come back.

But wait. Sam had said somebody had seen Bucky around. So why couldn’t he find him ? And since when did Sam call him Bucky and not Barnes ?

 

Steve started to look in every direction, frantic. He had to be somewhere. “Buck ?!”, he shouted. _Buck Buck BUCK_

 

Suddenly he heard a noise behind him. He turned around, almost snapping his neck with the speed of his movement.

 

And here he was. Bucky. Bucky, standing in front of him. Flesh and bones. _Alive._

_Bucky_ , he whispered. He then saw himself take steps towards the man in front of him and stop within arm’s reach. He barely registered his own actions, a mix of disbelief and relief rushing on him.

“Hi Stevie.”, Bucky said with a soft smile.

He raised his hand, reaching out to touch his friend but stopping before actually coming in contact. What if he wasn’t actually here ? What if…

“I’m real Steve. I’m here, it’s over.” Bucky took his hand and pressed it to his own shoulder.

 

It was really him. Bucky was alive, in front of him. He came back.

 _Bucky_ , he whimpered, chocking out a sob. Then he flung himself onto Bucky, clutching at him as if he would disappear again. He couldn’t let him go. Not that he wanted to anyway.

Somehow they ended up both kneeling in the grass, clinging at each other, and Bucky holding them both upright. It was over, Steve reminded himself. It was over. They were all back. He kept repeating himself that, as tears rolled over his cheeks.

After a good minute he could finally breathe again. The blond pulled back slightly and lifted his head, only to find that the brunette had tears all over his face too. He shifted, gripping the fabric of Bucky’s uniform in one hand, the other resting on the base his neck.

“Buck… I was so afraid you wouldn’t come back.”

“It’s okay. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.” Bucky smiled through the tears.

“I … I can’t do this without you, Buck. I need you.” That was the honest to God truth. Without Buck, he was only surviving. “I need you.”, he repeated, softly.

Something shifted in Bucky’s eyes in this moment and a wide smile appeared on his face. “Just kiss me already, Rogers.”

 

Steve didn’t need to be told twice. He surged forward, capturing Bucky’s lips in a sweet and desperate kiss. His hands then came on both sides of his face. Finally. It was chaste but overwhelming at the same time. His mind had trouble differentiating every sensation he felt. The soft brush of Bucky’s subtle, his left hand pressing their bodies together, the warmth of his lips, his right hand holding Steve’s head close.

Too quickly for his taste, they had to pull away to breathe.

 

“Punk.” Bucky chuckled. “Jerk.” answered Steve.

 

After that, they started kissing again, this time without urgency. They were both alive, the war was won, the rest of the world could wait for now.

 

But Steve was far from healed of his battle wounds, and pain shot through his ribs when he tried to change his position. Of course Bucky noticed immediately and pulled back from the kiss.

 

“What is it Steve ? “

“Nothing Buck, I’m fine.”

“Bullshit Steve. You know you can’t lie to me. Are you hurt ? Who am I kidding ? Of course you’re hurt.”

“I… okay. Yes. I’m not recovered yet.”

“Right. I’m taking you back to the city.” Bucky stood up, taking care not to jostle Steve in the process. “Come on, get your punk ass up.”

 

With a bit of difficulty, Steve got to his feet, then started walking with Bucky’s help. He was half slumped over him, his left arm across Buck’s shoulders and Bucky’s arm around his waist. “Seriously though. I’m the one who came back from the dead. You should be carrying me, not the reverse !” Steve didn’t answer. “Is that a corset I feel ? And this is a plaster on your foot. Dammit Steve, what are you doing _walking_ around like that ?”

 

Steve let his rant for the rest of the journey, too happy to have him back to say anything.

In the end, it took them quite some time to come back to Birnim Zana. They had even stopped to admire the sunset -which was truly beautiful. When they arrived close to the palace, they saw a shuttle leaving the ground, two other ones waiting on land. Next to them was a small gathering of people. Some seemed lost, others were just tired. Dora Milaje were keeping them from dispersing too much, and there were even doctors and nurses. Speaking of which. The one who had been in charge of Steve was coming in their direction. And didn’t seem so happy.

 

“Mr Rogers, here you are finally ! What are you doing _up_ and _walking_ ?”

 

The blond cast a glance at Bucky but the other man was apparently not about to help him. Instead he did the opposite and handed him to his doctor. “He’s all yours doctor.” “Thank you Mr Barnes. I just need to make sure he didn’t undo our work and then I’ll release him.”

 

Bucky nodded, winked at him and then… left. Jerk. He didn’t go that far away though, because he got intercepted by Sam and Wanda. Both of them gave him a hug. Okay. He’d missed a lot apparently. 

 

Five minutes later he was discharged, left arm in a new sling.

 

“Ah, Steve. Sam was just informing me that we were all invited by Shuri to celebrate tonight.”

 

The blond nodded. As long as he could keep Bucky in sight, everything was fine with him. And if he had the opportunity to be with his team too… that was perfect.

 

The rest of the evening passed in a sort of blur, Steve not quite realising that everybody was safe.

After they confirmed their attendance to Sam, Bucky had led them in Steve’s room. There had been clean clothes for Buck, somehow. They had taken a shower together, not quite ready to let the other out of sight. Then they had waited diner time simply watching the sky stretching out on Wakandan’s planes.

Around the table, there had only been smiles and laughter. There would be time to grieve the ones that remained fallen and the ones who lost their lives in this final battle, There would be time to deal with the emotional trauma. But for the time being, there was only space for celebration. To all the reunited : friends, families, lovers…

Steve and Bucky didn’t say anything about their relationship’s recent development. Yet, it was apparently obvious, seeing as almost everybody they knew clasped one of them on the shoulder with a broad smile.

And if that night they stumbled into bed and alternated between kissing and gazing at each other until they fell asleep… Well, they wouldn’t be ashamed to admit it.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone !  
> Thanks for keeping up with this fiction !  
> In this chapter, we see what happens the day after they get everyone back.  
> And good news, this is not the final chapter ! The next (and last) will be published next Sunday.

When Steve woke up aching early the day after their return on Earth, he felt dejected. He didn’t want to open his eyes just yet. Just another day after the snap, half the universe gone. His other half, gone. They couldn’t possibly have won in the end. It was too good to be true. Right ? Then is brain registered warmth behind him. Could that be Natasha ? It would be weird, but it wasn’t as if it would be new. He remembered falling asleep on her lap once, in the early days. He remembered another night when she had needed comfort, and they had fallen asleep together.

The body seemed too big to be Natasha’s, though. But then the air that tickled him was almost the good length. Almost. A bit too long ? And the arm, around his waist. Also too wide.

Steve shifted, trying to see if he could snuggle out of the bed but stopped abruptly.

Well. Definitely not a woman, that at least was sure now.

 

The opened his eyes, slowly, letting them accommodate to the light. He then moved his head to look at the arm encircling his waist. Yeah, a man’s one, really muscular.

Could it be… ?

 

Slowly, by fear for it to be a dream, he turned his head to look behind him. And there was Bucky, showing signs of waking up.

Steve turned completely, then unconsciously held his breath until two blue eyes locked with his own .

 

“Mornin’, Stevie.”

“Hey Buck.” Steve whispered, his throat tight.

 

Bucky frowned slightly, then placed a kiss on his forehead. “Why don’t we stay a bit in bed, huh ?”

Yeah, that was a good idea.

Steve nodded then put in face in the crook of his friend’s neck. The day could go on without them for a while.

 

Turned out they didn’t stay in bed for so long, maybe half an hour. Their brains suddenly remembered the other ships were supposed to come back before noon and they got up quickly after that.

They dressed, Steve requiring a bit of help because of his remaining injuries, then ate a small breakfast.

After that they went to medical to have Steve treated. Thanks to the Wakandan medicine, his foot was now only maintained by a band and his ribs were back to normal. They still remained slightly sore, but overall he was lucky.

 

-

 

While Steve had been with the doctor, Bucky had wandered a bit in the corridors. He passed some Dora Milaje and found Shuri sitting quietly in a corner a bit farther. Without a word, he went to sit next to her.

Minutes passed while they stayed silent, contempt to be in each other’s company. Then she laid her head on his shoulders.

 

“I missed you, mfowethu.”

 

Bucky sighed, then passed his arm around her shoulders. “Me too, dadewethu. Me too.”

He kept silent for a minute, then smiled. “I heard you took the Queen mantle along with the Black Panther one.” “Yeah.”

“That was brave.” “I didn’t have a choice.” “Still. You did it, and you were great at it. You stayed strong and led a nation when you could have crumpled under grief. I’m proud of you.”

 

At that, she buried her face in his neck. “I still cannot believe it’s over.”

Bucky smiled. “It is, though. What Thanos did with the stones is repaired.”

“I do not know what awaits us now. Until yesterday our sole objective was to bring everybody back. Now that it’s done… It seems as everything is dull, almost.”

Bucky didn’t really know what to answer. His own mind was still wrapping itself around the fact that he had been disintegrated, transported to some kind of other dimension, found people he didn’t know about -or didn’t want to think about-, and was back. “I know you will figure it out. You’re clever and not alone.” She nodded. “And I’m here too, if you want. I’ll gladly listen to you if you need.”

“Thank you.”

 

That’s how Steve found them some time after, hugging each other in silence. They stood up, after all they had things to do.

“I’m happy for you two” was all she said before they parted paths.

 

-

 

The people who had been on Titan weren’t due for another hour, but the palace was starting to be agitated. Every Earth citizen that had reappeared on the Wakandan soil had been sent back home the day before, so the only persons who were still here were the ones who fought and had been brought back with the first ships.

Nevertheless, the palace was in movement. Ah, true. They were planning to throw a small party.

Well, a party. More likely to be a buffet of some sort in a big reception room after a speech from one of the Royal members. Some people would get drunk, some would be happy, others sad… Things were bound to be really awkward if you considered some people didn’t even know each other. Or hated other.

Then there probably would be Thor, Natasha, T’Challa, Steve and himself either sober or outdrinking everybody else. Maybe even that Carol Danvers he heard about but hadn’t met yet.

 

But that wasn’t the concern of the moment. For now, they had to see if they could be of any help, maybe assist the newcomers… Peter’s aunt for example, apparently she had been invited to come and join them.

And if they had time, Bucky wanted to check on his goats. And his neighbours.

 

 

The small party turned out to be more fun than expected. There hadn’t be any real awkwardness, well nothing more than what was acceptable. The food was divine, they even got some music, which helped. If you didn’t want to go and talk to people, that was fine. Some danced, other stayed seated and chatted. No one batted an eye at Steve and him, his arm, or even the heteroclite group that were the guardians for that matter.

On top of that, the mead Thor had supplied had dismissed all the reserves and any awkwardness that might have lingered between the blond and him. Seriously, Steve had practically clung to him for almost half an hour before people started to leave the hall.

That’s why Bucky couldn’t exactly say that he was surprised when he found himself being slammed into the wall the second their door closed. His boyfriend -and wasn’t it strange to be able to say that- was on him in an instant, kissing him like the world was ending. Huh. Bad choice. Better to focus on those gorgeous lips devouring his own. He slid his right hand behind Steve’s scalp and gently gripped his air, his left encircling the blond’s waist.

He felt Steve pressing shimself closer to him. He brought a hand on the side of Bucky’s face, the other slapping on the wall behind him. In return, Bucky tightened his grip on his best guy and Steve slid a leg in between his. Now both had their groins pressing against the other’s tight.

The brunet grinned and reversed their places with a movement of the hips. Steve winced slightly, probably because of his ribs. Bucky promised himself to be more careful.

 

“Is that why you was so eager to leave Steve ?” he asked after a few thrusts, breathing next to Steve’s ear. It sent a shudder through Steve’s body.

“I don’t know, you tell me.” Came the cocky response, followed by a peck on the lips.

“You have too many clothes on.”

“That’s a problem that can be easily solved.”

 

Bucky hummed as he let Steve go. The blond started to unbutton his own shirt, then abandoned and simply passed it by his head. Quicker indeed, but not nice for his injuries either apparently. Bucky took the time to appreciate the view in front of him. Naked from the top, Steve was simply stunning. The skin of his arms slightly tanned, the muscles of his shoulders rolling as he moved, firm pectorals, well defined abs… and a neat blond happy trail which promised lots of fun.

 

Bucky kicked his shoes off and hooked in fingers into his boyfriend’s belt. He pulled the blond towards him and kissed him deeply. Slowly, he unbuckled Steve’s belt and unbuttoned his pants, pushing them down slightly. He stopped when the blond nibbled his bottom lip.

 

“You still have too much clothes on.”, Steve whispered.

 

Bucky nodded, then took off his top. Head bowed, conscious of his horrid scar, he went to unfasten his own slack s but Steve gently placed a hand on top of his. The other came to rest under his chin and lifted his head. Bucky took a breath and opened his eyes. He hadn’t realised they were closed in the first place. He tried to find any trace of disgust or remorse in those blue eyes but couldn’t find any.

 

“Don’t hide. I love you Buck, all of you.”

 

Not knowing how to answer, Bucky closed the distance between them once again and kissed Steve. He smirked when he heard Steve gasp. A simple brush of his fingers on the other’s crotch had confirmed that little Steve was also very interested in their activities. Well, _little_ Steve…

The brunet slid his hands behind his lover’s back, slowly descending to rest on top of that glorious ass. He squeezed both cheeks before pulling Steve’s pants down along with his briefs. They fell on the floor with a soft thud, leaving his blond completely naked. Gosh, he was stunning.

 

Steve tried to get out of the pile at his feet, but failed as he discovered he had not taken off his shoes. Bucky bit his lips to avoid laughing and took off the rest of his clothes.

Seconds later, he was attacked by Steve’s mouth on his neck. He closed his eyes as he gripped Steve’s bicep, a shudder running through his entire body.

The blond placed a hand on his lower back and pushed him a bit. Getting the hint, Bucky took several steps back and stopped only when his calves hit the mattress. He opened his eyes and Steve gently pushed him onto the bed. Once on the soft surface, he crawled back a little to let Steve get some space.

Bucky didn’t resist when his lover pushed his shoulders flat on the bed. He simply passed a hand through the dark blond hair and let him take charge.

Steve let a trail of open-mouthed kisses from the top of his jaw to his collarbone, then suddenly there was a hot and wet surface circling his nipple. The brunet lifted his head in time to catch the glimpse of malice in Steve’s eye, before he gently racked his teeth on the bundle of skin. He moaned and arched his back. Well, apparently his nipples were sensitive. Good to kno- _oh_. Yeah. Definitely.

Bucky’s grip on Steve’s hair tightened as he continued to suck on his nipple.

 

“Stevie”, he breathed, as the blond switched for the other one.

 

Once both nipples were hard and Bucky panting, Steve came back to kiss him. Naturally, they started undulating, relieving some of the tension in their sexes. Bucky still hadn’t had the chance to discover the body on top of him though, so he flipped them over in a quick motion.

 

His right hand traced invisible lines on Steve’s torso, feather-light touches that let the blond shuddering.

Bucky smiled and kissed the forehead of the man under him, then the tip of his nose, his jaw. He descended to his collarbone and left a trail of kisses along it. Then he sucked a mark at the junction between Steve’s shoulder and neck. His love groaned and shot his arms around him, pulling him up again for a kiss.

 

Bucky grabbed Steve by the waist, his other arm coming to support him, elbow and forearm flat on the bed next to the man’s head.

With his right hand, he lifted Steve’s waist, looking for more contact between their bodies. They kissed for some time, bodies slowly sliding against each other then Bucky started exploring again.

He played a bit with Steve’s nipples -who were not quite a sensitive as his own-, then went down to kiss his lower torso. Bucky felt the blond’s abdomen quiver under his lips at the same time he registered his raged breath.

 

He looked up to see that Steve was biting his bottom lip, eyes half closed, the hand not touching Bucky contorted in the sheets. The sight was so nice that he abandoned his current activity to capture those red lips. Steve met him halfway, and they were now both sitting on the bed, hands roaming over each other’s body.

They broke the kiss to breathe, forehead against forehead. The hand that had been resting over Bucky’s hip slowly lowered next to his member, hovering but not touching.

 

“I… I’ve never really done that.”

“ ’s fine. I’m sure you’ll learn fast. Just... I don’t know, maybe start with what you like ?”

“Sounds good to me.” Steve replied, then pecked his lips.

 

He did that at the exact same moment he took Bucky’s shaft in his hand. _Damn_ , he thought, as Steve started stroking him, his fantasies didn’t bring justice to the act itself. And they were just _starting_.

A swift movement made him gasp, allowing Steve to put his tongue in his mouth. Hmph. He couldn’t wait to see what else this tongue could do.

 

Their tongues battled for a while, neither of them wanting to let the other take control. Then Bucky finally took Steve in hand and the blond grunted, stilling for a second. _I win_ , Bucky thought, amused.

 

Neither of them had had much practice lately, and adding that to their light state of inebriation meant they didn’t last very long. Within minutes, they were laying on their sides facing each other, panting.

Steve was the first to come. His breath itched, his face crumpled and he closed his eyes as deliverance came, his mouth forming a perfect ‘O’.

The sight alone could have sent Bucky over the edge, but the little whimper Steve made broke the last barrier. His lover’s face got printed behind his eyelids while he let his orgasm course through his body.

 

The men laid in bed for several minutes, then got up to shower, not wanting to wake up in a mess the next morning. They took their time, helping the other wash, kissing every other minute. They dried up, put on a pair of briefs, then went to bed burying themselves under the covers in the other’s arms. They were happily asleep in mere minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any thoughts ?  
> This was my first attempt at any man on man action, so… Let me know what you thought of it !
> 
> Also, I went to the theatre watch Captain Marvel this Friday, let me tell you it's amazing ! But it also made me realise how much I had under-used Carol. Sorry.
> 
> See you next Sunday !


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everybody !  
> Here we go with the final chapter. Thanks to the people who stuck with me. Whether you left a comment, a kudo or simply read, this means a lot to me !

Bucky jolted awake, air struck in his trachea. He forced his body to take deep breaths while his mind was slowly leaving the land of dreams. For a moment, he had been back in the Soulword. Alone with Joahnn Schmidt. No Sam this time, he had been frozen on the spot again, unable to move. As if he had been back on that godforsaken table in Azzano. He shook his head, trying to chase the bad memories away. He was going to have to tell Steve that Schmidt had somehow reappeared. He sighed, then turned his head to watch the man laying next to him, an arm around his waist. He would tell him. But for now… For now Steve needed his sleep. And he would probably wake up quickly if he sensed Bucky tossing beside him. He had already woken up during the night.

 

Carefully, the brunet extracted himself from the bed. Going back to sleep wasn’t an option anymore, so he might as well get up. It wasn’t really early anyway, Steve would probably wake up soon. After a stop in the bathroom, Bucky went to the kitchenette and stood up in the middle of the room. He was thirsty, he realised suddenly. Damn, being back in the real world was still strange. There had been no physical need in the soul world. Here he had to remind himself to drink, to eat, to go the bathroom, to rest a bit, the temperatures changed…

It would pass, Bucky told himself as he started to prepare some tea. It was a habit he had taken during those two years. Wakanda had coffee of course, but people in the village usually drank tea. And, being with them for the major part of his time at the beginning of his recovery, he had taken upon drinking tea more often than coffee. He smiled as the memory of seeing the villagers yesterday afternoon came in mind. The kids had almost jumped on him and Steve. He laughed while he poured water, thinking back on their excitement. They had rambled on for hours, playing with his air while Steve laid on the grass, his head in Bucky’s lap.

The afternoon had been much calmer than the morning, that was for sure. As he sipped his tea, Bucky let his mind go back to when the last ship arrived.

 

-

 

Every person who had fought in any of the battles and was still in Wakanda was present for the return of the last ship. It was, to say the least, a lot of people. And if he was honest with himself, he wasn’t really comfortable.

Bucky let his gaze travel over the crowd. The Avengers and their ‘associates’ were present -with some additions like May Parker. M’Baku and his tribe -some of his men had fought and some were in the ship-, as well as a lot of Wakandans, were here, civilian or not. And he could see part of the Asgardian people. The crowd was probably around a hundred and a half people.

Even if the rational part of his brain was telling him that Wakanda was safe, he couldn’t bring himself to relax completely. To add a bit more discomfort, the sun was shining high in the sky, and so the temperature was higher than usual.

 

As Steve and him joined the main group, Sam caught his eye and nodded, a small frown on his own face. Okay, so he was clearly not alone in this situation. It made it a bit better actually. He was about to tell Steve that Sam was near, accompanied by Natalia, Wanda and Barton when a booming voice resonated behind them.

 

“Steve, my friend !” Both men turned in synch to see the God of Thunder -with his eyes of different colours- arrive, accompanied by a blonde woman.

“Thor. Captain.” Greeted Steve.

“Captain”, answered the woman with a twinkle in her eyes.

 

Steve shook his head slightly and turned towards him. “Buck, let me present you Carol Danvers and Thor.”

Oh, so that was the famous Carol Danvers. “James Barnes”, Bucky said while shaking their hands, “but you can call me Bucky.”

“Oh so you’re the one making Steve blush !” replied Danvers. Thor laughed.

“Hum” hesitated Bucky. He turned his head towards Steve to gather more information but… the blond was indeed starting to blush. Nevermind.

“Anyway. Here’s Fury. If you’ll excuse me, I need to ask him about Goose.” A what now ? “I’ll see you all later. It was nice finally meeting you Robocop !”

 

And then she was gone. Bucky took a moment to recover from this strange meeting. She was an interesting character, that was for sure.

The smile he felt spreading on his face must have attracted the attention of Thor, because he chuckled only seconds after.

 

“Ah yes, she is always like that. She was a beacon of light, what with her abilities and flamboyant personality.”

 

“Your highness. Mr Rogers and Barnes.” Interrupted Okoye, “I am going to ask you to take a few steps back The ship will be there in mere moments.”

 

The three men quickly obeyed and completed the circle other people had started to form. As for Okoye, she relayed the same message to the rest of the crowd. Then she went back to her post, next to the royal family. She quickly beamed at another Dora – Ayo, if Bucky remembered correctly-, then resumed her straight stance.

 

Within minutes, the ship was landing. As soon as the door opened, chaos was unleashed. Cries of joy echoed throughout the city after only a few seconds. It was really over, Bucky realised.

 

Thor clasped his hands on their shoulders and excused himself – he had some people to welcome. Bucky followed him from afar and saw the god hug tightly a woman. She had a white armour, coloured skin and long brown hair. He asked Steve if he knew her. _Brunnhilde. Yeah, you don’t want to mess with her. She was really helpful against Thanos. I think you’ll like her. She speaks as she thinks, no filter._

 

Some time passed. Steve and he greeted Wakandan soldiers, and Bucky introduced Steve, Natalia and Barton to the Guardians of the Galaxy and Stephen Strange with the help of Sam and Wanda.

Then Bucky turned looked around for Steve 2.0. Turned out he didn’t have to search a lot, because the kid had already found them and was almost running in their direction, Stark in tow.

 

“Mr Barnes !” exclaimed Peter, before hugging Bucky.

The brunet huffed but returned the embrace. “Kid, I already told you to call me Bucky.”

“Yeah I know, I know. It just slips sometimes.”

“Come on kid. Quit the hugging, you’re gonna give Stark a heart attack.”

 

It wasn’t true. Stark only had a raised eyebrow, but Peter couldn’t see it. So he jumped away from Bucky, red faced. Then he saw Steve and started babbling. Some things would never change apparently.

 

He heard Steve laugh next to him and saw him shaking the young man’s hand. Then he looked back at Bucky, then at Steve, then at Bucky again.

The brunet, sensing what he was wondering and probably wouldn’t ask, took Steve’s fingers in his own and smiled.

 

“Oh my gosh. This is so great. I have to tell MJ. Can I tell her ?”

 

Bucky laughed. An over excited puppy. That was the comparison he was looking for. “Yes, you can. Tell her I say hi, will ya ?” The kid nodded enthusiastically.

 

Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to say anything more. Steve suddenly tightened his grip on Bucky’s hand. The brunet raised his head to see what was troubling his boyfriend and zeroed on the ‘problem’ in an instant. Stark. Ok, so, not everything had been solved apparently.

The man didn’t seem aggressive, maybe only a little bit tense.

He looked at Peter, and told him his aunt was waiting for him to call his friends.

 

“Steve”, he said, offering his hand. “Glad everybody made it out alive.”

The blond shook Stark’s hand -without letting go of Bucky’s- and answered stiffly. “Me too Tony, me too.”

“Alright. It’s awkward. Take care. Bye !”, the billionaire said. Then he turned slightly in Bucky’s direction, nodded, then flew away.

 

“You two will get better eventually.” Bucky offered.

“I hope you’re right.”

“I’m always right, punk.”

“Jerk.”

 

Their surroundings momentarily forgotten, Bucky leaned in and pecked Steve’s lips. It stayed chaste, and brief, but it was enough to attract attention. They came back to the present movement thanks to a sharp whistle. That could only be… “Sam”, supplied Steve.

And indeed, it was him. Both men turned in time to see him sporting a huge grin. Shuri was beaming too, her thumbs up. Natalia and Wanda were sporting similar smirks. As for Barton… he yelled “Keep it PG, grandpas.” Enough said.

 

The party after that had been great, all this considered. Less awkward than expected. But Thor -and his friend Brunnhilde-, Carol, Natasha, Steve and he had still out-drunk everybody else. 

It had been good to see Steve finally taking time to stay with his friends, and not only Bucky. Even if he had kept an eye on him every second, that is.

And after that, well… After a good half an hour of Steve confusing him with a raft boat, they had retired in the quarters. _That_ had been nice too.

 

-

 

Bucky was pulled out of his memories by a whine coming from the bedroom. Curious – and a bit worried if he was honest, cause it was Steve after all-, he waited to see if that happened again. He took a gulp of tea while waiting. Argh, bad idea. It was completely cold now and very bitter. He placed his almost empty cup on the bar and crossed his arms.

The brunet didn’t have to wait for long before the sound came again. Steve was probably having a nightmare again. Couldn’t he get some rest ? He sighed and went to the bedroom with the intention to wake up the blond. Here he was, curled up in foetal position, head buried in Bucky’s pillow.

 

Bucky sat down on the edge of the bed, on the left side he had been occupying during the night. It was cold now, so he must have been out for longer than he thought. Careful not to touch the blond, he leaned over and called Steve’s name. The man stilled, but didn’t react any more than that, so Bucky called again. Except instead of waking up as Bucky supposed he would do, Steve curled up further into himself, the pillow disappearing into his arms.

 

“Steve.”, Bucky said, tugging the pillow away, “Come on, show me your baby blues.”

“No. Stop. Stop talking. Please stop.”

Bucky frowned. What on Earth… “Stevie ?”

“No. You’re not real.” Oh. Okay. That was to be expected at some point.

“Steve. I’m real. We won, Thanos is dead. There was a fight about two days ago now, where you and others picked up the magic rocks and sent this purple asshole to Hell. You brought everyone back, Stevie. We’re safe.”

“No, it’s too good to be true.”

“Steve. Could an hallucination do this ?” Bucky asked, before he ripped the pillow from Steve’s grip. At that, the man lifted his head, hope in his eyes but a frown still present. “Would your memory of me do this ?”, he asked just before kissing Steve lightly on the forehead. “Or this ?” he kissed him on the mouth.

 

“Buck ?” Steve had hope written all over his face now.

“Yes punk. I’m here.”

“You’re real.”

“Yeah”, Bucky nodded, “not going anywhere.”

 

That seemed to have convinced Steve because not two seconds after, Bucky was pressed flat on his back on the mattress. The blond was straddling him, his right hand on Bucky’s torso, the left tangled in his hair. Apparently, he intended to kiss every patch of Bucky’s skin. Now, it wasn’t as if Bucky didn’t like the attention -quite the opposite, really-, but that just wasn’t Steve’s _style_. Something was up.

He tried calling Steve, to make him stop for a second. That didn’t work. Instead, the blond just sucked a hickey on his collarbone. That felt nice, for sure. But Bucky hadn’t forgotten his objective. He called Steve again, without result once more. He was about to try a third time when Steve pinched his two nipples at the same time, making him gasp and arch his back.

Okay that was it. Bucky launched his hips and finally managed to roll them almost face to face on the bed.

 

“Steve. _Steve_.”, he pleaded. His punk finally stopped, but didn’t look up.

“I need… I need you. I need to feel you. I…”

“Hey. Hey hey, Steve. Look at me.” Slowly the blond lifted his head. Bucky cupped his face and ran his thumbs over his cheeks.

“You can feel me without us having sex. It’s okay.” Steve didn’t answer, just nodded. “Breathe with me alright ?”

 

Bucky waited until his lover rolled on his side and they were facing each other. Okay. How could he say that without sounding… rude ? “Now, I’m not saying I don’t wanna have sex with ya, punk. I just don’t want it to be rushed because of fear one of us could disappear or else. I want it to be because _we_ want to have sex together. And I’m totally fine with sex being our activities of yesterday too.”

 

Steve paused, then frowned slightly. “Yeah, okay.” He sighed. “But… I want you.”

“You sure sweetheart ?”

“Yes. I want you, Buck. Not because I’m afraid or anything else. Even if it pushed me a bit, I admit. But I really want you Buck. I want to kiss you, I want to feel your hands on me, I want to feel your mouth on me. And I want to taste you, to map every inch of this beautiful body of yours.”

“Okay okay, I get it. Jeez, you sap.” Bucky smiled and leaned in to kiss Steve, who framed his face with his warm palms. Well at least as much as he could considering their current position. Bucky ran his right hand down Steve’s left arm, caressing his skin. So they were going to have sex. They just… needed to know who would do what. He was fine with anything really, but he didn’t know about Steve.

 

The brunet thought about how to ask while his hand explored a bit the broad chest of his lover. He kept the touch light, the rib injury of the blond still in mind. His hand returned to Steve’s bicep before he opened his mouth. “Steve, how do you –”

“Fuck me.” Well, that was direct at least. “Okay”, he whispered, then kissed Steve. It was chaste at first, then he parted Steve’s lips with his tongue. They kissed gently for some time, then Bucky broke the kiss. He asked Steve if there was lube nearby, and was directed to the nightstand by a beautifully blushing man. Good, it would have been really annoying to have to report just to go looking for the lube. And it wasn’t as if they needed condoms.

 

Bucky rolled on the mattress, grabbed the bottle -which was missing a few of the liquid already- in the drawer and rolled back on his previous position, lube thrown on one of the pillows. The hand that had been curled around Steve’ bicep travelled around his slender waist, gently bringing them closer. Steve did the same and intertwined their legs.

The position wasn’t ideal though, so Bucky tugged them both upright. They settled on their knees, Steve’s arm around his shoulders, getting as close as possible.

Bucky slid his left hand behind Steve’s neck, while the other slowly lowered to grip his lover’s bottom. He moaned through their kiss when Steve tugged his hair. _That_ was interesting, possibly something they would have to look into in the future… But for now… for now he had a firm ass under his palm. And a lover whom he wanted to discover in depth.

And that started with his neck. Bucky broke their kiss and brought his mouth to the side of Steve’s neck. He kissed the skin lightly at first, then with a bit more pressure and finished by biting it teasingly. Steve tightened his grip on the brunet’s hair at the first bite, making him shudder in return.

Bucky then travelled a bit more, down to the blond’s collarbone. There, he sucked a light bruise on the delicious skin. And scored jackpot. Steve groaned at that, his back arching and making their chests collide.

Bucky repeated the gesture on the other side while Steve was kneading his ass with both hands.

When both men started grinding against each other, Bucky finally directed his attention to Steve’s nipples. It was time to play, he thought, as a smirk grew on his face.

The brunet teased the bundle of skin with his teeth, and got two set of fingers digging into his cheeks in retaliation. Oh, that was going to be so good.

 

Time flew and suddenly Bucky found himself on top of a laying Steve, pushing a lubed knuckle past his rim. The blond’s breath caught up as his body tensed automatically, and the hand cupping his head clenched his hair. Bucky kissed his man to distract him from the unusual sensation. It worked quite well. In no time, Steve was back to roaming his hands over the brunet’s body while he carried on his preparation.

Alternating between kisses on the lips and his chest, Bucky didn’t rush, letting Steve get used to his fingers. The blond might have the serum, but it would be his first time bottoming, and Bucky was enhanced as well. Better be safe than sorry.

 

On top of that, this long preparation had allowed him to find Steve’s prostate, if the little cry the man under him had let go was any indication.

Let’s see if he could do that again. Bucky twisted his fingers once, twice, before he got the wanted reaction. Steve gasped _Bucky_ and closed his eyes, biting his bottom lip. His flushed face was a marvel to look at. Satisfied, the brunet kissed Steve and withdrew his fingers.

Bucky chuckled at the little whine his lover let escape at the loss. He grabbed the lube and poured some in his palm. It was rather cold… He waited for a few second before applying it then stroke himself a few times. Then he lifted his head to see Steve watching him through half closed eyes.

He kissed Steve, then aligned himself. He put a hand on the blond’s tight, opening his legs a bit wider then looked up in Steve’s eyes.

 

“Come on already, I’m not made of glass.”

 

Bucky huffed then slowly pushed into Steve. It was hard, because the sensations were overwhelming -Steve was still tight and _so_ deliciously hot-, but he managed to not go in one thrust. He might have large hands and fingers, but his dick was definitely bigger. He released his breath once he bottomed out and looked at Steve. His face was crumpled, his breath coming quickly.

 

“You were saying ?”, he asked, before grabbing Steve’s leg and putting it behind his back.

“Shut up you jerk -ah.” “Punk”, Bucky joked, trying to stay still.

 

Then to make amends, he lowered his head and kissed Steve gently. He maintained himself on his forearms until his lover pressed his ankles into Bucky’s lower back, signalling him that he could move.

 

Soon enough, they were both a mess of tangled limbs, their breaths coming in gasps. They kissed with their mouth half open, swallowing the other’s moans. Both men were too hot and sweaty, but Bucky couldn’t care less. He was with Steve and that was all he needed. All that mattered.

 

Sensing he was close, Bucky reaffirmed his grip on Steve’s member, stroking him in rhythm with his thrusts. The blond probably wasn’t going to last long either. His gasps and moans were getting higher pitched each time, which probably was a good indicator. His face was the perfect picture of debauchery. Flushed, pupils so dilated Bucky had a hard time discerning the blue, lips red and puffy after all their kisses.

 

“You’re so beautiful”, Bucky whispered before pressing his lips to the junction between Steve’s jaw and neck. A quite sensitive spot he had learned. The answer that Steve tried to deliver died on his lips, a strangled sound coming out instead.

 

_Bucky_ , he moaned, closing his eyes. His ankles pressed them even closer and his arms clung to the brunet’s shoulders. His breath was becoming erratic.

 

_BUCKY_ , Steve cried, his whole body tensing up. Bucky thrusted a few times more, riding Steve through his orgasm then pulled out. He stroke himself twice before Steve put a hand on top of his own and pulled him down for a kiss. Then they only stroke him together once before he was coming too, his shout muffled by Steve’s mouth.

 

A few moments later he collapsed next to Steve, his chest heaving. He closed his eyes as a huge smile took place on his face. It only broadened when Steve put his forehead on his shoulder and kissed his arm.

Bucky opened his eyes and turned his face to the right towards his lover. Two blue orbs were staring back at him, still slightly dazed. Bucky brought up his arm to caress Steve’s chest and smiled at him.

 

“I love you Buck”, Steve whispered.

“Love you Stevie”, he replied. He let his hand travel slightly to the south and come in contact with something wet. _Ah, right_ , he thought as he lowered his gaze.

He blindly reached for the tissues he knew were on the nightstand and wiped their mess off of Steve’s abdomen. Then he threw the tissue in the direction of the bin. A soft thud signalled he had achieved his goal.

 

“Score !” chuckled Steve before capturing his lips.

 

The two supersoldiers kissed lazily for some time then Steve rolled them over. Bucky was on his left side, Steve curled behind him. The blond slid an arm around his waist and drew him closer. They finally settled, back to chest, Steve’s right leg in between Bucky’s, sheets up to their waists. The brunet brought Steve’s hand to his mouth, kissed it then placed it back on his stomach, interlacing their fingers.

 

Bucky closed his eyes, savouring his lover’s warmth. There. They had all the time in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it.   
> This (quite long) chapter concludes this fix-it of Avengers 3.   
> Don't hesitate to tell me what you thought of it.  
> See you around ! (Probably in the supernatural fandom actually)  
> Mel


End file.
